CENTRE for MEDITERRANEAN, MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC STUDIES

"There are neither eternal allies nor eternal enemies. Only interests are eternal..." Lord Palmerston The dictum of Lord Palmerston, as expressed in the House of Commons in 1848, includes the rapprochement between Israel and Greece in the recent past. Because in international relations interests are what matters and every"player"in the international arena has a duty to pursue them.

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.