Lebanon

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>Lebanon has fallen prey to the rapacious appetites of most of the world's great powers - France Ancient Egypt Rome Assyria Alexander the Great the Arabs Crusaders Persians Mamlukes and Ottoman Turks. Vestiges of all these transient civilisations are still there: Phoenician tombs and Roman temples Gothic castles venerable mosques and churches all jostling for attention. The Lebanese themselves bear genetic witness to this history: dozens of ethnic and religious groups coexist uneasily hemmed in between mountains and sea stubbornly defending their rites and traditions in a mosaic- like society where politics informs religion and vice versa. Violence beauty poetry struggle humour an occasional example of inspiring inter-cultural harmony - and bigotry - all are reflected through these writers' eyes. </span></p><p></p>