This book takes a deep dive into the factors that lead to countries’ success in elite sport. While some researchers have suggested looking at the political, economic, demographic, geographic and cultural characteristics of a country, other scholars have advocated that meso-level strategies such as financial support, governance, and talent identification systems are the factors that need to be taken into consideration. Taking into account the two sides of this debate, the authors review and evaluate these various components. They go on to use this review to propose a new holistic framework of analysis that includes the macro, meso and micro-level factors that lead to national success in elite sport. This is a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in sport management, particularly the subject of sport governance. In addition, sports consultants and policymakers will find this to be an eye-opening read.

Lebanon is a unique country. Its small size, numerous communities, geographical context, history of conflicts and foreign invasions contribute in making this research a unique study in the field of humanities and social sciences. The study of such a case gets even more complex when it comes to the evaluation of the position of sport in this society. Lebanese sport reflects all the different parameters of the Lebanese scene: economic difficulties, administrative problems, religious and political tension. The situation of sport in this country is rendered even more complicated by the fact that the budget granted to sport is relatively very small; a fact that is not only detailed but is proven to have direct effects on the low position that Lebanon has in the different international sport rankings. Academically, research on this field is also still very limited and the very few works done in this domain are more descriptive than analytic. The aims of this thesis, new in its kind, is, first, to do an analysis on the sport policy administered in Lebanon from 1975 to 2004, and, then, after defining its different characteristics, propose a plan for development.