Though Lebanon’s presidency is mostly symbolic, it has a few important powers, like approving prime ministers and cabinets. In a country still haunted by the memory of civil war, symbolism is important too: how the head of state is chosen says much about the balance of power in Lebanon’s factious politics.

But who is Joseph Aoun? And why did it take so long for the Lebanese parliament to agree that he was the right person to lead the country? Military experience. Born in 1964 in Sin

Lebanese army commander elected president weeks after a tenuous cease-fire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.