From Baltimore to Beirut: I’m more confused than ever by Lebanese politics
Andrew Exum uses The Wire to explain what is happening in Lebanese politics: For starters, anyone confused by Hizballah’s relations to Amal would do well to think of Hassan Nasrallah as Marlo Stanfield and Nabih Berri as Avon Barksdale. The Stanfield crew never really destroyed the Barksdale crew — they never really needed to. They ...
Andrew Exum uses The Wire to explain what is happening in Lebanese politics:
Andrew Exum uses The Wire to explain what is happening in Lebanese politics:
For starters, anyone confused by Hizballah’s relations to Amal would do well to think of Hassan Nasrallah as Marlo Stanfield and Nabih Berri as Avon Barksdale. The Stanfield crew never really destroyed the Barksdale crew — they never really needed to. They just fought a series of conflicts and gradually displaced them as time went on. They’re all West Side guys, just one crew is leaner and meaner than the other, and those who never grew comfortable with the new power order — the Bodie’s of Lebanon, if you will — were eventually dealt with. The IDF is Officer Colicchio.
What worries me: Who in Beirut is Snoop, that scary girl who used the nail gun?
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
More from Foreign Policy

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

The Masterminds
Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.