Middle East
Lebanon also has bilateral trade agreements with several Arab states and is in the process of accession to the World Trade Organization. Lebanon traditionally enjoys warm relations with other pro-Western Arab states. At various times, however, it has seen tension with Egypt, Syria, Iraq, the Palestinians, and Libya. In March 2002, in honor of the expulsion of Israeli troops from the South of the country, the Arab League met in Lebanon for the first time since 1967. Lebanon also is a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Hezbollah maintains a close relationship with Iran, largely centered on Shi'a Muslim links and animosity towards Israel.
Read more about this topic: Foreign Relations Of Lebanon
Famous quotes containing the words middle and/or east:
“On the middle of that quiet floor
sits a fleet of small black ships,
square-rigged, sails furled, motionless,
their spars like burned matchsticks.”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)
“The East is the hearthside of America. Like any home, therefore, it has the defects of its virtues. Because it is a long-lived-in house, it bursts its seams, is inconvenient, needs constant refurbishing. And some of the family resources have been spent. To attain the privacy that grown-up people find so desirable, Easterners live a harder life than people elsewhere. Today it is we and not the frontiersman who must be rugged to survive.”
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978)