Caught in a closing pincher between Israel and Hezbollah, the people of Lebanon lack agency - and a government. Their fate rests with the Party of God, a terrorist organisation and proxy of Iran’s ayatollahs that constitutes the de facto power in Lebanon. The country has been without a president for well over two years. Twelve successive votes in parliament failed to produce a head of state. Caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati, a liberal, is effectively powerless as the country sinks further into economic chaos and social despair whilst forces far beyond its control prepare for war.