Abstract
This article traces briefly the history of Lebanon «the natural refuge of the oppressed in the Middle East» where diverse reli gious communities have long lived with common traditions where political belonging took precedence over difference of religion. The rupture of Lebanese unity is analysed from a basis in political quarrels which, from the XIXth century onwards, took on pro gressively a confessional character by being exploited by foreign struggles for influence. For the Author, the drama now lived out by this country shows that all of the confessional crises of the past have found solutions of a confessional character. Today, it would be without a doubt vain to place one's hopes in solutions which are laical or confessional neutral.