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Abstract In 2008, Lebanon has experienced one of the most critical crises of its history. It revealed deep political divisions and the inability of leaders to reinvent the compromise at the base of the state’s creation, which relies on a balance between communities associated with the exercise of power. The transition to a system of political representation independent of the communities is one of the current challenges. Lebanon must move from a community representation to a system based on the construction of a national citizenship, and the release of individual and collective potential without breaking the society. The crisis has also highlighted the dangers of aligning national policies on external issues, leading to the instrumentalization of the country for purposes opposed to its interests.