As Lebanon continues to direct its focus toward political and constitutional solutions to its structural crises, one of the most strategic yet neglected tools of state-building, culture and education, remains largely absent from public discourse. The pursuit of a unifying national identity, now widely acknowledged as a precondition for national security and a prerequisite for rebuilding legitimate governance, cannot emerge solely from political or constitutional engineering. It requires a robust social foundation, nourished by education and curricular reform, and enriched by art, literature, and a coherent public cultural narrative.

While dismantling the sectarian system, restoring state sovereignty, and reclaiming national decision-making are indispensable goals, they remain incomplete unless accompanied by a long-term cultural and educational project, one capable of reshaping the Lebanese people’s understanding of themselves and their relationship to the state. Citizenship cannot be imposed from above; it must be cultivated from below: in schools, homes, and public spaces, where the symbols, values, and norms that define “who we are,” “who the other is,” and “what it means to be Lebanese” are formed.

1. The School as a Foundational Space for Identity Formation

Since the establishment of Greater Lebanon in 1920, the Lebanese educational system has failed to produce a unifying national narrative. Instead, it has remained hostage to sectarian and political quotas, resulting in the fragmentation of collective consciousness. A student in the South may study a version of history that bears little resemblance to that taught to their peers in the North or the Mountain. History and civics curricula have not undergone any substantive revision since the Taif Agreement (1989), leaving the national memory disjointed and often contradictory. How can a cohesive national identity take root amid such epistemological fragmentation?

Reforming the educational system, particularly the history and civics curricula, must be treated as a strategic priority. The battle for the Lebanese state is not fought solely in political arenas but also within classrooms. Curricula that emphasize shared values, the concept of the state, and a realistic yet inclusive account of modern Lebanese history, free of distortion, omission, or bias, are capable of shaping a new generation of citizens who identify first and foremost as Lebanese, rather than as members of sects or followers of political leaders.

2. Culture as an Instrument of National Security

National security in Lebanon is typically reduced to military or sovereignty-related concerns. However, in its comprehensive sense, national security must include culture as the first line of defense against division, chaos, and institutional fragility. Culture is not a luxury; it constitutes a symbolic infrastructure essential for social cohesion.

Lebanon, once a beacon of Arab culture, must reclaim its role as a producer of culture, rather than merely a consumer of sectarian and incendiary media discourses. In this context, the role of the Ministry of Culture, as well as artistic institutions, theater, cinema, and educational media, becomes crucial in crafting an alternative national narrative—one that transcends narrow, exclusionary sectarian storylines.

Investing in culture is an investment in stability, for culture creates shared symbolic references, opens up spaces for collective imagination, and offers peaceful avenues for expression and belonging. Without a unifying national culture, sect, political leader, and family will continue to dominate as the primary sources of identity, thereby undermining national security from within—as has been well-documented in foundational studies on state fragility.

3. Toward a National Cultural-Educational Project

Rhetorical appeals to modern statehood in Lebanon will remain ineffective unless accompanied by a national plan to reconstitute collective consciousness. Such a plan must transcend governments and sectarian divisions, and involve educators, intellectuals, and historians, not just political actors. It must also align with constitutional and administrative reform efforts, for there can be no reform without citizens, no citizenship without consciousness, and no consciousness without education and culture.

Lebanon urgently needs a national institution tasked with articulating a modern Lebanese narrative, one that weaves together fragmented memories and highlights moments of unity in Lebanese history rather than episodes of division. Educational and cultural programs must be launched to promote critical thinking, encourage civic engagement, and revitalize the Arabic language as a tool of national cohesion, not fragmentation, while also embracing global languages as instruments of knowledge rather than vectors of dependency.

National Identity Is Constructed, Not Imposed

It is time to recognize that state-building does not begin with legal reforms or the election of a president, or by organizing municipal and legislative elections. It begins with the construction of the citizen. And the citizen cannot be shaped by empty slogans, but through equitable education, inclusive culture, and responsible media discourse that instills in individuals a belief that they belong to a nation, not merely to a sect, and that the state is a guarantor, not a spoils system.

Thus, any national security project in Lebanon is incomplete without its educational and cultural foundations. If sovereignty can be reclaimed through political decision-making, identity must be recovered in the school, the theater, the book, and the idea. Only then can Lebanon become a viable nation, rather than a fragile experiment in coexistence on the brink of the next collapse.

Simon A. Kachar, PhD

Founding Director of the Good Governance and Citizenship Observatory at the Asfari Institute, and Lecturer in Political Science at the Political Science and Public Administration (PSPA) Department at AUB. Dr. Kachar holds a BA and MA in Public Administration, and a PhD in Political Science.