Africa & Middle East

Lebanon

Political journey

Created as a French mandate in 1920 and independent in 1943, Lebanon divides power among its religious communities. A civil war from 1975 to 1990 was followed by Syrian occupation until 2005, and Hezbollah’s power grew in the decades after. Its economy collapsed in 2019, and after a war with Israel in 2024 the election of President Joseph Aoun in 2025 opened a bid to rebuild state authority.

Lebanon today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomyLeaning free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentCentered on environment
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologySlightly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceLeaning strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionLeaning religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismSlightly non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Lebanon today

Portrait of Joseph Aoun

Joseph Aoun

President of Lebanon, 2025 to present

A former army commander elected president in January 2025 after a two-year vacancy, he has promised to restore state authority and rebuild Lebanon after war and economic collapse.

Joseph Aoun sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: leaning free market and leaning authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly institutional on institutions, leaning authoritarian on liberty and authority and leaning strength-first on war and peace. The profile is close to the middle on environment.

Full profile of Joseph Aoun →

Political views closest to Lebanon’s leadership

Liberal conservatismCombines free markets and limited government with respect for institutions, tradition…98%Confucian meritocracyPrefers rule by educated, moral officials chosen by merit over competitive elections.98%One-nation conservatismA paternalist conservatism holding that the better off owe duties to the poor and to…98%CorporatismOrganizes society into industry and professional bodies that bargain with the state, an…97%

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

AustriaEurope99%CroatiaEurope99%JamaicaAmericas99%LuxembourgEurope99%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.