Both pro-Iranian and anti-Iranian camps have been taken in by the drama surrounding Iranian President Ahmedinejad’s visit to Lebanon. The idea of Ahmedinejad, who is considered to be Hizbullah’s chaperone, overlooking the northern border of Israel – the closest he has ever been to a country he does not recognize and utterly despises - is as ever in Lebanon one person’s nightmare and another one’s paradise. However, instead of indulging ourselves in images of glory and warfare scenarios, exploring the interests of the various ‘talented divas’, who have been keeping Lebanese politics busy for years and are equipped with a long-time performance experience – seems to be more reasonable. In other words, this visit is far too complex to be analyzed in a one-sided manner.

Authors: Evangelos Diamantopoulos, Costas Faropoulos, Maria Kourpa, Iris Pappa, Charitini Petrodaskalaki, Aliki Sofianou

"The greatest fear is fear itself". Ian Lustick, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, quotes the words of Franklin Roosevelt in an effort to prove that the United States has an alternative way to fight terrorism. The War on Terror has resulted in more damage than the actual attacks of September 2001. It has disoriented public opinion as well as foreign and domestic policymakers from the real threats. The US is currently hunting ghosts, allowing the enemy plenty of time to reorganize and become stronger out of the fear of weakness, which is the actual message terrorism itself implies.