%0 Electronic Article %A Cobban, Helena %I Council %D 1985 %G English %@ 0731-6763 %T Thinking about Lebanon %J American Arab affairs %N 12 %P 59-71 %X The article sets out with an identification of the five major groupings in Lebanon, of which the Maronites, Druze and Shiites constitute the politically relevant inter-sect system. It is argued that for the last decade Lebanon has been undergoing the process of Maronite-Shiite transfer of primacy, more or less analogous to the Druze-Maronite transfer of primacy in the 19th century. It is forecast that although the Maronites and the Druze might take some further steps towards cantonization, the inter-sect system will ultimately prevail. To analyse the dynamics of this system, nine general rules for how the system works are codified. A kind of American-Syrian condominium is recommended as an umbrella, under which the transfer of primacy might be engeneered more smoothly. (DÜI-Asd)