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It is crucial that the West grasps the complexities of the Arab world. Clearly and concisely Sandra Mackey presents a view of this tortured and tortuous region through the lens of Lebanon.The recent history of Lebanon provides insight into the many trials currently facing the larger Arab community. A small, fractured country at the gateway of the Arab east, Lebanon signals the challenges that the Arab world poses to itself and to the West. As Mackey demonstrates, the Lebanese have experienced every issue currently roiling the Middle East: borders contrived by others, a weak state housing weak institutions, a Palestinian presence, civil war, resistance to societal and political change, Sunni/Shia sectarianism, occupation, militant Islam as a political ideology, conflict over a common identity, a troubled democratic tradition and war perpetrated by forces inside and outside its borders. Lessons learned from Lebanon will ease understanding and resolution elsewhere.