Samir Makdisi is Professor of Economics, Chair of the Economics Department and Director of the Institute of Financial Economics at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He has served as Lebanon's Minister of National Economy in, as Deputy President of AUB and is presently a member of the Governing Board of the Global Development Network (Washington DC).

• List of figures. List of tables. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1 The period preceding the civil war: relative economic stability, growth, socio-economic gaps and underlying political instability; The political environment 11 Economic performance: quantitative aspects; Socio-economic development: qualitative gaps; A summary overview of development until 1975; Lebanon on the threshold of civil war. 2 The war period, 1975-90: resilience versus fragmentation; Introduction: the phases of the civil war; On the causes and duration of the civil war: economic versus non-economic factors; The political/military environment and the constraints on national economic performance: a summary view; Economic and financial performance: impact of the war and the national response; Reflections on the war period; The attempted reconciliation: the Taif Accord. 3 The post-war period: aspirations versus reality: Political background, growth and macroeconomics; Introductory remarks; The political context: a brief overview; Growth and the macroeconomic and financial situation; The post-war period: aspirations versus reality; Labour market, governance and socio-economic issues; Labour market and wage policy. 4. Fundamental issues of development: political governance and the socio-economic dimension of development; Aspirations versus reality: lopsided development. 5 Lebanon, development and globalization: concluding reflections; Successes and failures of Lebanon's development; Domestic conditions for viable long-term reform; Lebanon and the global economy; Lebanon and small, open developing countries; Final comment. Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Fawwaz Gerges - Sarah Lawrence College, New York: "The Lessons of Lebanon offers one of the most complex and comprehensive analyses of economic development in the past half a century. It must be made a prerequisite reading for all those students, researchers and politicians who are trying to understand economic challenges facing a country at war and how to overcome those challenges. The book offers critical lessons on sustainable development which transcend Lebanon's borders. Samir Makdisi has written a classic."