Can Lebanon’s young uprising withstand embrace of the ‘machine’?

And now, the “machine” strikes back – with a warm embrace.

Lebanese activists whose anti-corruption protests led Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his government to resign are confronting the reality that they are facing down more than just a government, but an entrenched political class that is refusing to give an inch.

Even as the young protesters united across sectarian lines to demand a strengthened judiciary and government accountability and transparency, so too are Lebanon’s political elites closing ranks in the face of the popular will, going to any length to prevent such reforms from taking place.

It’s testing the resilience of the economic recession-fueled movement, which is calling for an