From Loud to Silent: The Free Patriotic Movement 2005-22 Outdoor Campaigns

Abstract

Lebanon’s history is characterized by events and players outside the country’s borders, which mainly include Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and the United States. Towards the end of the Lebanese Civil War, General Michel Aoun, the caretaker Prime Minister of 1988 and head of the army, emerged as one of the most popular Christian political leaders. He strongly opposed the establishment of Syrian hegemony over its tiny neighbor Lebanon legalized by the Ta’if agreement. Yet, defeated by the Syrian army, Aoun was expelled from Lebanon and went into exile in Paris, France (Rowayheb, 2014). In 2005, twelve days after the last Syrian soldier pulled out of Lebanon following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Aoun returned. Upon his return from exile, he resumed his political career, founded the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) in April 2006 (Ajroudi & Chughati, 2018) and reengaged with the Lebanese public and his backers. What were the political messages employed in the FPM’s resurging political advertising activity? And how did it evolve from 2005 to 2022 based on local and regional alliances?