Muted reaction to mid-terms in Lebanon

"BEIRUT — Reaction to the American mid-terms was muted in Beirut, a city still shell-shocked from the summer war with Israel and consumed by its own domestic political drama.

Much of Lebanon’s attention is focused not on American politics, but its own, which are dominated by roundtable talks taking place this week among the country’s powerful feudal lords who preside over their own sectarian fiefdoms.

“The Lebanese are reading the tea leaves as best they can,” said Paul Salem, the director of the Middle East Center for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, based in Beirut. “The (anti-Syrian) March 14 movement is fearing the loss of U.S. power and the other side is relishing the loss of US power.”"
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