While iconic slogans of Syria's President Bashar Assad appear to have been put away, cardboard cut-outs of Iran's leaders loom large over southern Lebanon, and the party faithful still hail Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as their Wali al-Faqih, or clergyman-commander.

ECONOMIST: Lebanon and Iraq

This week, an Iranian-trained Shia militia, the Badr Corps, led by another prominent member of the Governing Council, inaugurated a book fair to celebrate 25 years of Iran's Islamic revolution and propagate Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's theory of wilayat al-Faqih, the rule of a Supreme Cleric.

ECONOMIST: Bombs and ballots | The