As the sun sets on another year, I am reminded of an old maritime analogy: a captain cannot control the storm, but he can absolutely control how he shifts the sails. In Lebanon, we have spent a few years battling a hurricane, yet as I look across my window overlooking beautiful Beirut, I don’t see a shipwreck. I see a fleet of resilient, empowered citizens ready to catch the first winds of change.
For me, 2025 was a year of building transformative resilience. Whether I was in boardroams with development sector executives through RPS MENA, or with private sector representatives as part of the Lebanese Private Sector Network (LPSN), convening our local Consulting Community of Practice, or mentoring aspiring youth of Aie Serve and connecting with WEF’s Global Shapers locally and globally, one truth became undeniable: The era of the “waiting citizen”, the survival mode is over. The era of the “Empowered Citizen” has begun.
From Survival to Strategy
For too long, we’ve defined progress in Lebanon as mere survival. But survival is not a destination; it’s a baseline.
My vision for a brighter tomorrow for myself and my children isn’t based on a gift from abroad or on some decision by a foreign government to give us a break. It is based on self-reliance, reason, building a sense of agency among Lebanese, and respect for the law. We often talk about “Social Justice” as a handout, but I see it as an essential right and a source of empowerment. Through my work with the Youssef Tabsh Foundation and RPS MENA, I’ve seen that when you provide a citizen with the right tools, access to a community, and opportunities, they don’t just survive, they build and thrive. Citizens with agency, a sense of social justice, rule of law and a common vision are capable, empowered citizens who can make wonders.
We need state and non-state actors in Lebanon that act as regulators and enablers. A country where a young professional, for example, doesn’t need a “wasta” to thrive; they just need a functioning system, a digital/unified ID perhaps, and a sense of security that comes from a stable, growth-oriented economy. They don’t need hand-holding or someone telling them what to do; they just need a paved way in front of them, and they’ll figure it out.
Conveners & Builders
My belief is that for the coming period, we need people who serve as conveners and builders. Not “political representatives” in the old sense, but individuals from across the Lebanese mosaic bringing people together, and to rally everyone to a shared vision, narrative, dream, to take action and build. We need thought leaders, nation “rethinkers”, and reform inspirers for a more just system.
I believe the top priorities would be:
- Architecting a New National Narrative: The days when Lebanon was “Switzerland of the Middle East”; the banking, health, education, and hospitality center of the region are long gone. We need to envision a new “value proposition”, an inspiring set of “differentiating factors”, and an innovative “modus operandi”. Lebanon 2050 should be something we can all envision, work towards, and get inspired by.
- Engineering Blueprints: Moving beyond “protest” toward “policy”, beyond “rhetoric” toward “action”. We need to double down on practical, technical, law-based frameworks that are simple, understandable, and implementable. From anti-corruption to fiscal decentralization, from foreign policy to economic strategy, ensuring that our “institutional health” is the priority and our citizens are at the center.
- National Self-Reliance: Championing a “positive neutrality” where Lebanon leverages its greatest asset, its citizens, whether local or the diaspora, to build an economy that can withstand global shocks. I’m all for having friendships and positive diplomatic relations with Arab states and others. Still, we should plan to grow independently of foreign investment and aid and focus more on our capabilities, which are plentiful.
- Empowering the Middle: Continuing to convene the academicians, thinkers, professionals and experts who are the backbone of this country, and encouraging those who travelled to return and build the dream with us, is of utmost importance. If we move in sync, we move the nation.
A Message of Hope: The Lebanese Mosaic
Hope, in the Lebanese context, isn’t blind optimism. It is the calculated belief that our diversity, our “mosaic”, is our competitive advantage. When we finally detach our public posts from confessional quotas and attach them to KPIs and merit, we don’t just fix the government; we heal the nation. More than 18 years ago, a team from all walks of life that co-founded Aie Serve believed in the values of respecting, accepting, and loving others, and today those values are more important than ever.
To my fellow Lebanese, at home and in the diaspora: do not let the headlines dim your light. We are a nation of “Good Shepherds”; we are dreamers, builders, creators, and consultants, ready to charter a new way forward for our own destiny.
Let’s step into 2026 not just hoping for change, but engineering it; each of us in our own sphere. By convening when dialogue is needed, contributing expertise were it is missing, mentoring the next generation, choosing institution building and practical actions over slogans and promises, we can quietly but deliberately reshape our shared future.
Afif Tabsh
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http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/AfifTabsh
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