Diab examines the social repercussions of Beirut's role as a financial, trade, and banking center in the Middle East during Lebanon's post-independence years (1943-1975). He investigates the development of Beirut and its early financial involvement in the region, particularly through the introduction of the cash crop, silk, to Mount Lebanon. He examines the impact of such involvement on steering the Lebanese social structure and economy to meet the needs of capitalist expansion into the Middle East. As capitalist interests sought to transform Beirut into the Switzerland of the Middle East,...