Lebanon protests fueled by "endemic corruption" of political class

BANGLADESH, Nov. 30 -- On November 20, Middle East Forum Radio interviewed Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to discuss the ongoing mass protests in Lebanon.

According to Badran, the protests are fueled by "the major economic mismanagement and impending collapse of the Lebanese economic and financial system," which in turn is an outgrowth of "the endemic corruption of the Lebanese political class." He explained,

[W]ith minor exceptions this political class in one form or another and the families and the figures that constitute it have been ruling Lebanon since the days of the civil war and its aftermath. So, this is a long-standing elite. ... [The protest] movement is unique in modern [Lebanese] ...