The country has the chance to change direction, open up, and win the investment that would transform its natural and human resources into the economic engine needed. It just needs the will.
Old fields could produce 400,000 barrels of oil per day within a year and there are some large natural gas reserves to exploit, but investment is needed to make the most of the opportunity.
Promising new discoveries, big new deals on gas, and a successful second public share offering is shaping one of the world's biggest companies to beat its own high expectations.
Streamlining the public sector, enhancing the role of the private sector, and reviewing financial policies away from sovereign funds are just some of the reforms needed. Time is running out.
The conflict has forced Russia to scale back its global footprint and NATO to boost its defence spending. Meanwhile, China and Middle powers have emerged as key beneficiaries.
As the US and Iran head to talks in Geneva, competing forces are pulling Trump in opposite directions. There are only two "good" scenarios in front of him, and neither will be easy to achieve.
His arrest is the first for a British royal in modern history and comes after it was revealed he had passed confidential state documents to US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Faris Al-Muhanna dreams of one day creating a digital archive to safeguard the history and memory of Lebanon's most iconic artist for future generations