Nawaf Salam is the prime minister of Lebanon. He is a Sunni Muslim (by Lebanese convention, the prime minister must come from that group). He spent much of his career abroad, first as Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations and then as a judge on the International Court of Justice. He lacks a deep domestic base among Lebanon's Sunnis.
In his first speech as prime minister, Salam set two goals: asserting the authority of the state—meaning the government needed to disarm Hizbullah—and rescuing an economy mired in financial crisis since 2019. He pushed through two important pieces of legislation: a law easing bank-secrecy rules (April 2025) and a plan to restructure local banks (July 2025). The next step is the "gap law", which would apportion the estimated $80bn of losses in Lebanon's financial sector—the crucial piece of the reform package, without which there can be no IMF bailout.
On March 2nd 2026 Salam declared "all Hizbullah's security and military activities" to be illegal and told the group to hand over its weapons to the state. He and Joseph Aoun are pursuing direct talks with Israel. Hizbullah does not approve but cannot stop them.
Salam has argued that Hizbullah would eventually submit, noting that the ceasefire it accepted said the Lebanese state should have a monopoly on arms. Fouad Makhzoumi, a billionaire businessman and MP, is thought to be a likely challenger for the premiership and has cultivated America's backing.
Year, n.: A period of three hundred and sixty-five disappointments.