{"id":55058,"date":"2026-03-04T12:05:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/?post_type=activity&#038;p=55058"},"modified":"2026-03-04T12:05:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:05:35","slug":"livanos-mia-xechoristi-chora-neo-vivlio-tou-dimitri-kourkoula","status":"publish","type":"activity","link":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/activity\/lebanon-a-unique-country-new-book-by-dimitris-kourkoulas\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLebanon: A Unique Country\u201d &#8211; New book by Dimitris Kourkoulas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"the-content\"><p><\/p>\n<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">\n<p>On March 3, the publishing house Metaixmio released the book by <strong>Dimitris Kourkoulas<\/strong>, Head at the Mediterranean Programme of ELIAMEP, \u201c<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.metaixmio.gr\/el\/products\/libanos-mia-xexoristh-xora\"><strong>Lebanon: A Unique Country<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\u201d Dimitris Kourkoulas served as Ambassador of the European Commission to Lebanon from 1997 to 2001, the first EU Ambassador after the end of the civil war.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lebanon often finds itself at the top of international headlines, always for negative reasons: massacres and bombings, kidnappings and hijackings, bankruptcy and explosions. Considering what has happened in the country of the cedars over the past fifty years, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Lebanon has nine lives. How can this paradox be explained\u2014a country with such a negative image attracting so much attention and sympathy? It is a question I have been asking myself ever since I lived through five intense years in Beirut and realized that I had come to love the country, and above all its people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>How did the fifteen-year civil war begin? Why does the country\u2019s political system continue to be based on an archaic system of 18 officially recognized religions? What is the role of the Greek Orthodox community? What is (and what is not) Hezbollah? Who killed the billionaire prime minister Rafic Hariri? What is a \u201ctemporary pleasure\u201d marriage? Can there be reconciliation between Lebanon and Israel? What is the geopolitical dimension of Lebanese cuisine?<\/p>\n<p>In addressing these and other crucial questions, in order to understand such a complex country, the author attempts to provide simple answers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLebanon, despite all adversities, remains an irreplaceable laboratory of coexistence between Muslims and Christians. Even today, despite the enormous challenges it faces, it stands at the center of the dialogue between civilizations and religions. This is not an academic dialogue like those organized at international seminars, but a daily dialogue\u2014one based on everyday coexistence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":55059,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"program":[25],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity\/55058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/activity"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=55058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}