Beirut 1958: The Summer Lebanon Burned Twice

In the summer of 1958, Lebanon nearly came apart at the seams. President Camille Chamoun's bid for a second term, the fiery pan-Arabism of Gamal Abdel Nasser, and a CIA-backed intervention all converged on Beirut's streets. This episode follows the arc from the May uprising to the July landing of U.S. Marines, and the quiet compromise that put Fuad Shihab in the presidential palace — a deal that bought peace but planted seeds of the civil war to come. We talk about the role of the Kataeb, the Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt, the Sunni maverick Saeb Salam, and the brief but consequential presidency of Fouad Chehab. Along the way we piece together how a threatened coup, a marine landing, and a political bargain reshaped Lebanon's fragile sectarian order.

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