Does authority change?

This phenomenon is generally caused by crises or wars, and sometimes even by decisions which are not unanimous within the authority. For example, the military defeats of certain states during the Second World War that caused the fall of the existing ideologies. The transition of the economies of the countries of the former Soviet bloc into market economies. Natural disasters such as the earthquake of November 1, 1755, in Lisbon and its political, scientific, and philosophical implications. Bismarck’s authoritarianism that marked radical changes within the Prussian regime.

As for Lebanon, the violence and the internal struggle of the civil war provoked both confessional segregation and institutionalization. These new forms of relations were reinforced by the flow of capital from Lebanese migrants, and society’s satisfaction with the transformation of the economy into a rentier economy.

Changing persistent concepts and habits is not trivial especially when the majority is unable to envision a radically new direction. Change often comes through a revolutionary process carried out by a revolutionary few, with the chances of success increasing as the crisis deepens and the situation deteriorates.