32 • Protests united broad groups of the public in a common cause; in Lebanon, this meant solidarities across communities that were historically divided by religion and sect(Yee 2019; Lehane 2020; Tschunkert and Bourhrous 2022; Al-Masri, Abla, and Hassan 2020). Figure 12 Lebanon Events Who protested, and why Lebanon’s economic crisis predated both the COVID19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, but was exacerbated by both. By mid-2022, the currency had collapsed, and the Lebanese pound had lost over 90% of its value against the dollar compared to 2019(Reuters 2022b). Four out of five Lebanese people were living in poverty by 2022 according to UN estimates(Al-Monitor 2022). With Lebanon heavily dependent on wheat imports for basic food security, 80 per cent of which came from Ukraine, the Russian invasion was a key factor in the sharp rise in food insecurity. Much of the country’s grain reserve capacity had also been destroyed in the 2020 explosion in Beirut port, an incident itself linked to corruption and political mismanagement. The World Food Program(WFP) noted that by December 2021 53 per cent of people living in Lebanon, around 600,000 people, were in need of social assistance, and that figure had risen by a further 400,000 between early 2021 and September 2022(WFP 2022b). By early 2022, the cost of the average food basket had already risen by over 350 per cent in the previous year (WFP 2022a). Dependence on fuel imports was exacerbated by the collapse of the currency. Protestors stormed the ministry of energy and other electricity providers, aggrieved by power outages and the unaffordability of private generators(Houssari 2022a). Energy prices rose throughout 2021, with all fuel subsidies removed by September 2022(Abdallah 2021; Chehayeb 2022). The International Monetary Fund(IMF) criticised the government for the slow pace of reforms on its financial sector, fiscal reforms(including costly subsidies),