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Au rebours des clichés, ce livre tente de dénouer les fils enchevêtrés de l'histoire du Liban depuis son ouverture sur l'Europe au XVIIe siècle jusqu'au début du XXIe siècle.
L'histoire du Liban contemporain, ce petit pays clé du Moyen-Orient objet des convoitises des puissances régionales et internationales depuis trois siècles, est mal connue. Elle a trop souvent été écrite en fonction de la géopolitique internationale, interdisant ainsi de cerner la réalité complexe de cette société, marquée par l'interpénétration de l'islam et du christianisme depuis treize siècles. D'où de nombreux clichés, exploités pour stimuler la fièvre destructrice qui, entre 1975 et 1990, s'est emparée du pays, pris dans les affres du conflit israélo-arabe et de la guerre froide. De " Suisse du Moyen-Orient ", le Liban est devenu alors une sorte de repoussoir, archétype des situations de fragmentation et de communautarisation d'une société.
Au rebours de ces clichés, ce livre tente de dénouer les fils enchevêtrés de l'histoire du Liban depuis son ouverture sur l'Europe au XVIIe siècle jusqu'au début du XXIe siècle. Georges Corm s'attache à forger des clés de compréhension des événements et des comportements des acteurs de cette histoire, afin de dépasser les langues de bois qui ne mettent l'accent que sur les communautés et leur diversité ou leurs évolutions divergentes. Il invite à réfléchir sur les phénomènes communautaires, en analysant le jeu complexe des facteurs endogènes et exogènes dans l'évolution historique du pays, jusqu'à ses développements les plus récents, comme la création du Tribunal spécial sur le Liban, magistralement analysé ici.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1986
Higher Education
G. CORM is Lebanese, he was born in 1940. He studied in Paris and graduated in 1961 from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Major in Economics and Public Finance) and from the Faculté de Droit et de Sciences Economiques where he successively obtained the Licence en Droit (1962), the Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures (1966) and the Doctorat d’Etat (Ph.d.) in Constitutional Law with the highest honors (1969). His PhD thesis on religious pluralism through history and its influence on political systems was published in three languages (French, Arabic and Serbo-Croatian).
Professional Career
G. Corm began his career with the Lebanese Civil Service in 1963. He served first as Economist with the Ministry of Planning, then as Monetary and Financial Expert with the Ministry of Finance (Department of Central Bank Control and Coordination). In 1969, he continued his professional career in the banking sector in Lebanon, France and Algeria until 1985. From 1985 to 1998, G. Corm was based in Paris as an independent Economic and Financial Consultant for International institutions like the World Bank, ESCWA, UNDP, the European Commission and Arab and Lebanese institutions, as well as for private companies and banks. He has worked for these institutions in more than 15 countries.
From Décember 1998 to October 2000, G. Corm served as Minister of Finance of the Lebanese Republic. In this capacity, he prepared a Five Year Plan for fiscal reform, began introducing VAT and paid all accumulated arrears due by the State to the private sector. He is now back to consulting activities and teaching at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.
Academic Record
Professor Lecturer between 1972 and 1985 at Saint Joseph University (Beirut), American University of Beirut, Lebanese University. Regular teaching courses on Arab Modern Political Thought, Nations and Nationalism, Development Economics, Economic history and International Financial markets; since 2001, he has been teaching International Economic Cooperation and Financial Management of the State at Saint Joseph University and Balamand University. Since 1985, he has been member of several Committees at different French Universities to examine Ph. d. thesis and has given from time to time Lectures or Seminars in Europe and the US on Middle-Eastern topics.
Membership in Professional Bodies
Member of the Executive Board and Secretary General of the Arab Organization to fight corruption (Beirut), Research Fellow and member of the Advisory Committee of the Economic Research Forum for the Arab World, Turkey and Iran (Cairo) – Member of Arab Economic Research Society (Cairo) – Member of Arab Tought Forum (Amman) – Société des amis du Monde Diplomatique (Paris) – Member of the Conseil Scientique du Centre de Recherches de l’Orient Contemporain IFAPO (Paris) – Member of the Advisory Board of the Swedish Institute in Alexandria – Member of the Adivsory Board of Casa Araba (Madrid) - Former Member of the Conseil Scientifique des Cahiers d’études sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le monde turco-iranien CEMOTI (Paris) – Former Member of the Consultative Committee of the Institut Universitaire d’Etudes du Développement (Geneva) – Founding Member of le Mouvement du Citoyen Libanais (Beirut-Paris).
http://www.georgescorm.com/personal/a...