Professor Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad: Dearborn’s Voice in the Lebanese Diaspora — Expat Voting, Disarmament and the Case for Diaspora Power

dearbornblogadmin's avatar dearbornblogadmin on August 31, 2025

By Dearborn Blog — August 2025

Excerpt:
When a Dearborn professor speaks about Lebanon, folks here listen. Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad — lecturer, journalist, and representative of the Lebanese Expatriate Movement — is pushing two clear ideas: give the diaspora real voting power, and insist on disarmament of militias that keep Lebanon locked in crisis. For Dearborn’s big Lebanese community, that’s not abstract geopolitics — it’s democracy, dignity, and the chance to change the story of homeland from the outside in.

Featured image caption/credit:
Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad (screenshot from his Aug. 31, 2025, interview on Huna Beirut / Al Jadeed). Credit: Huna Beirut / Al Jadeed via YouTube. YouTube

Who is Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad — a quick profile

Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad wears a few hats: he’s a Lecturer I in Physics at the University of Michigan–Dearborn (listed in the UM-Dearborn people directory), a journalist/content creator, and an active representative of the Lebanese Expatriate Movement in the U.S. His public presence spans university classrooms, Arabic-language TV/online interviews, and diaspora organizing platforms. University of Michigan-DearbornInstagramLebanese Expatriate Movement

That mix — professor + journalist + organizer — is important. It gives him credibility in Dearborn’s classrooms and mosques, and it gives his arguments reach across the global Lebanese community. When he speaks about diaspora voting or disarmament, he’s not theorizing: he’s translating lived diaspora anxieties into a concrete political program. See his recent media appearances for a deep dive into his views. YouTubeLBCIV7

What he said (and why it matters): two core themes

In August 2025 interviews and panel appearances, Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad focused on two interlocking demands: (1) expand and normalize expatriate voting rights for Lebanese abroad; and (2) pursue disarmament of militias and a sweeping civilian security architecture inside Lebanon. Both aims, he argues, are necessary to break the cycles of corruption, clientelism, and violence that keep Lebanon unstable — and both are areas where the diaspora has real leverage. YouTubeLBCIV7

1) Expatriate voting: not charity, but civic right

Abbas frames expatriate voting as a democratic correction. Under the current Lebanese law expatriates are mostly limited to a handful of reserved seats rather than voting in their home districts — a setup that many diaspora activists call marginalizing and symbolic. Abbas argues (in interviews and diaspora forums) that millions of Lebanese live abroad; giving them substantive voting rights is both fair and a practical way to shift power away from rentier patronage networks. Recent reporting from L’Orient-Le Jour, Now Lebanon, and other outlets documents a growing diaspora push to expand rights ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections — exactly the moment Abbas says diaspora influence would be most transformative. L’Orient TodayNowlebanon

Practical point Abbas emphasizes: the diaspora wants parity — not tokenism. Allowing expatriates to cast ballots in their home constituencies (or to expand the number of seats meaningfully) reduces incentives for corruption and increases accountability for politicians who previously ignored the millions living abroad. That’s a message Dearborn voters can relate to: representation matters, and so does making every voice count. NowlebanonL’Orient Today

2) Disarmament: a politically explosive but necessary ask

The second pillar of Abbas’s message is disarmament. Lebanon’s security landscape includes state forces, foreign actors, and non-state armed groups whose presence and leverage alter any political calculus. Abbas joins a broader debate — in which civil society, some political factions, and international analysts participate — arguing that sustainable reform requires reducing the role of militias in politics and public life. He has discussed how disarmament would be tied to political reform, reconstruction, and the restoration of public services. LBCIV7The National

This is sensitive — the subject of many diplomatic negotiations, UN briefings, and domestic disputes — yet Abbas insists it must be on the table. He points out that diaspora pressure for disarmament is credible, because the diaspora often controls remittances, investments, and global political relationships. In short: if those abroad demand a denser, civilian-led Lebanon, they have tools to make that demand costly to ignore. LBCIV7Chatham House

How Abbas ties the two: diaspora leverage for systemic change

Abbas’s rhetorical and practical strategy is simple and persuasive: connect diaspora political rights to homeland reform. Voting by expatriates can create new electoral incentives; new electoral incentives can undercut militia patronage; undermined patronage opens space for disarmament and stronger state institutions. It’s a chain—hard to execute, but coherent. On Arabic channels and diaspora platforms he’s been mapping this causal chain to audiences who care deeply about reform. YouTubeNowlebanon

That logic also explains why the Lebanese Expatriate Movement (the platform Abbas represents) is spending time on both issues simultaneously: pushing for equal voting rights and encouraging civic pressure for security sector reform. The movement’s online hub and Facebook presence reflect both tracks — legal/legislative engagement on voting, and advocacy and education on security and anti-corruption. Lebanese Expatriate Movement Facebook

Context: Why these demands feel urgent in 2025

Lebanon’s political map shifted after economic collapse, the Beirut port blast in 2020, and repeated political paralysis. International and local reports (including human rights monitoring and think-tank analyses) show how governance gaps, economic collapse, and armed actors combined to erode citizen trust. Many Lebanese abroad are convinced that change from within is unlikely without external pressure; Abbas’s call is a concrete plan to channel that external pressure through democratic mechanisms. Human Rights WatchAnera

At the same time, parliamentary debates in Beirut during 2025 over expatriate voting rights and how the diaspora is to be represented indicate momentum — and fierce resistance from entrenched parties that fear losing influence. Coverage in outlets such as L’Orient-Le Jour, Arab news wires, and diaspora press picked up the same themes Abbas emphasizes: reform is possible — but contested. L’Orient TodayAsharq Al-Awsat

What this looks like for Dearborn (practical ties & civic opportunities)

Dearborn is home to a dense Lebanese and Arab American population that is already engaged in local politics, school boards, and civic life. Abbas’s message is not academic for this community — it’s a call to act in ways that cross borders. Here are concrete connections Dearborners can make:

  • Civic education & voter registration drives for Lebanese dual nationals who may be under-informed about how expatriate mechanisms work and how to register or lobby for change. (Abbas emphasizes diaspora organization; the Lebanese Expatriate Movement offers tools and networks.) Lebanese Expatriate Movement L’Orient Today
  • Town halls with diaspora organizers: invite Abbas or other movement reps to speak at community centers and universities (UM-Dearborn has a built-in link through Professor Abbas himself). That would translate his media appearances into local strategy sessions. University of Michigan-DearbornYouTube
  • Policy advocacy in Lansing/Washington: Dearborn’s electeds and civic groups can press U.S. diplomatic channels to support diaspora voting reforms and to condition reconstruction assistance on governance and security sector benchmarks — ideas Abbas frames as internationally legible. LBCIV7

Critiques, challenges, and cautious notes

Abbas’s program is ambitious and not without obstacles. Opponents of widening expatriate voting argue that such changes could exacerbate sectarian divides or be manipulated by parties that sponsor diaspora mobilization. Similarly, disarmament touches raw security nerves: many Lebanese fear external coercion or a repeat of past civil-war traumas if the process is mishandled. Analysts at Chatham House and other institutions stress that any disarmament must be synchronized with political settlements and credible security guarantees. Abbas acknowledges the risks — and frames diaspora pressure as one lever among many, not a silver bullet. Chatham HouseThe National

For Dearborn readers: these critiques are good context. They remind us that diaspora activism must be strategically smart: push for checks and balances, transparency in diaspora voting mechanisms, and careful sequencing on security reform so civilian protections are prioritized.

Where Abbas’s voice adds value — and why Dearborn should listen

Abbas brings three assets to the conversation:

  1. Academic credibility — as a UM-Dearborn lecturer, he knows how to translate complex policy into classroom-friendly language; that helps when organizing broad, multilingual diaspora audiences. University of Michigan-Dearborn
  2. Media skill — he shows up on Arabic TV and digital platforms to explain policy, not just politics. That reach helps diaspora mobilization break out of echo chambers. YouTube
  3. Movement ties — his role with the Lebanese Expatriate Movement connects grassroots organizers across continents to legislative advocacy in Beirut. That combo of local knowledge and transnational networks is what makes his pitches plausible. Lebanese Expatriate MovementLBCIV7

For Dearborn the takeaway is simple: listen, organize, and convert sympathy into structure. Abbas’s platform suggests concrete next steps — register and educate voters, host public forums, and push representatives to back diaspora enfranchisement and governance-linked reconstruction. These are the kinds of community actions that change outcomes.

Final note — an invitation

Abbas Al-Haj Ahmad’s message is rooted in citizenship: rights for the diaspora and safety for the homeland. Here in Dearborn, where families live with one foot in Detroit and one foot in Beirut, that message is not distant doctrine — it’s a map. If you want to hear Abbas directly, watch his Aug. 31 interview and catch his past appearances. Then bring the conversation local: invite speakers, lobby lawmakers, and help build the civic institutions the diaspora needs to be heard. YouTubeLebanese Expatriate Movement

Sources / Further reading (live links)

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Published by dearbornblogadmin

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