Were you to switch on your television set in Lebanon in the first days of August 2005, and zap from one channel to another, you would be puzzled to see the country's normally fractious television landscape featuring variations of the same scene: a picture of Fahd Bin ‘Abdul‘aziz, king of Saudi Arabia for twenty-three years until his death on August 1, 2005, with Islamic prayers chanted and inscribed on screens dominated by the colors black, green, and white. In a rare display of unison, Lebanese channels paid homage to the departed royal. Hours after Fahd's death, reporting shifted to the Arabic equivalent of “The King Is Dead; Long Live the King,” broadcasting Saudi royal conclaves, known as the bay‘a, to anoint Crown Prince ‘Abdullah as the new king of Saudi Arabia. Lebanese media, like their Arab counterparts, covered the developments live, with the transition slogan “Khayru Khalaf li-Khayri Salaf” (A good successor to a good predecessor) resonating on the airwaves.

That Fahd's death – important but expected, as the king had a debilitating stroke in November 1995 – would be ubiquitous on Lebanese television screens is confounding. At first glance, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia do not have much in common.