Lebanon’s confessional system is a relic of Franc’s colonialist desire to balance power so that no local group could act without French assistance. Getting rid of that system, together with binding assurances of non-intervention by all neighboring powers, *along with* the outlawing of any domestic political or military force controlled by a foreign country (especially Hezbollah), is Lebanon’s only chance at the building of a true Lebanese national identity & effective national sovereignty.