Will the World Get Behind Lebanon's Cedar Island

Pending government approval, Lebanon is to become the site of the world's largest tree-shaped island development. Beirut based developer Noor International has revealed plans for the Cedar Island -- set to beat Dubai's Palm Island in size -- and hopes to secure international partners and investment when the government has approved the project.

Now I hate to be pessimistic when it comes to overseas property, but all I can say of the new development is: it's a good job there is plenty of oil wealth in Arab nations, because I really can't see much investment coming from anywhere else.

Just 3 years ago large portions of Lebanon were reduced to ash and rubble by Israeli bombardment, followed by a ground invasion, as Israel attacked the internationally classified terror group Hezbollah who had gartered much grass-roots support in the country -- this only the latest of Israeli-Lebanon wars.

The war was followed some time after by major anti-government rallies, which eventually led to a shift in power within the country. Things are stable now and the government will likely approve the development, but the task of seeking international investors will no doubt be made extremely difficult by concern that the next flare up on the Israeli border may be just around the corner. Don't get me wrong, the development will no doubt go ahead; funded by oil-rich Arab investors keen to see Lebanon flourish like Dubai had until this year.

I personally believe that we have seen the last Israeli-Lebanon war (for this century anyway) and that making peace with Israel permanent will lead to a very prosperous future for Lebanon, just as it has for Egypt. I just think it may be a little too soon for a development of this magnitude in Lebanon, a place associated with terrorism and fighting wars -- I guess time will tell.