Since the assassination of Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005, Lebanon has appeared to be in the throes of a permanent political upheaval. From the 'Cedar Revolution' in the immediate aftermath of Hariri's assassination, to the Israel-Hizbullah war in summer 2006, to the political paralysis that has taken hold of the country, the dizzying pace of events has overwhelmed the ability of even seasoned observers to keep up. In clear and accessible language, this book retraces and makes sense of the sequence of developments that have shaped the current situation. By shedding light on the calculations of domestic, regional, and international actors, and by analysing the interplay between internal and external influences, it illuminates a particularly turbulent two-and-a-half-year era which future historians are bound to see as a watershed in Lebanon's political history.