Middle East
Lebanon also has bilateral trade agreements with several Arab states and is in the process of accession to the World Trade Organization. Lebanon traditionally enjoys warm relations with other pro-Western Arab states. At various times, however, it has seen tension with Egypt, Syria, Iraq, the Palestinians, and Libya. In March 2002, in honor of the expulsion of Israeli troops from the South of the country, the Arab League met in Lebanon for the first time since 1967. Lebanon also is a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Hezbollah maintains a close relationship with Iran, largely centered on Shi'a Muslim links and animosity towards Israel.
Read more about this topic: Foreign Relations Of Lebanon
Famous quotes containing the words middle east, middle and/or east:
“The blood of Abraham, God’s father of the chosen, still flows in the veins of Arab, Jew, and Christian, and too much of it has been spilled in grasping for the inheritance of the revered patriarch in the Middle East. The spilled blood in the Holy Land still cries out to God—an anguished cry for peace.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“God forgive me, I do still see that my nature is not to be quite conquered, but will esteem pleasure above all things; though, yet in the middle of it, it hath reluctancy after my business, which is neglected by my following my pleasure. However, music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business is.”
—Samuel Pepys (1633–1703)
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)