People are often defined by their environment, their identity and their upbringing. For Drew Mikhael, who is both Northern Irish and Lebanese, his identity and lived experience growing up alternately between Belfast, during the last phase of The Troubles, and post-war Beirut had a profound impact on his life. Now working as a Research Fellow and Consultant focusing on conflict, minority rights, refugees and extremism, Drew is intimately aware of the value of peace building, reconciliation and the power of compromise in ending strife and bringing hope. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, both Beirut and Belfast were bywords for sectarianism, war and chaos. Having grown up in these dichotomous yet dynamic, cosmopolitan cities, Drew has seen the transformative impact that the Good Friday-Belfast and Taif Agreements have had on both Northern Ireland and Lebanon. 

However, in recent years, both Northern Ireland and Lebanon have faced new and serious challenges. Northern Ireland's status within both the UK and EU has been usurped by Brexit. It now faces an uncertain future, as some disgruntled and anxious Unionists see the Northern Ireland Protocol, the compromise negotiated between the EU and UK to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland, as a threat to their equality of status as a nation within the UK. Nationalists believe that Brexit has ruptured any justification for Northern Ireland remaining in the UK, and now see a referendum on Irish unity as the inevitable solution to Brexit. 

Meanwhile, Lebanon is suffering a crippling economic disaster, caused by the utter mismanagement of every facet of life by the government. However, with the murder of activist and Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim on the 4th of February, Lebanon may face a real risk of a return to crimes of impunity.

In this episode, Drew and I discuss both Northern Ireland and Lebanon, how recent events have led to the current worrying trends and how these risks could be deescalated and ultimately resolved, just as they were in the 1990s.