After twenty years of civil war and enduring numerous conflicts since, the archival situation in Lebanon is, understandably, best described as decentralized. Though it is only rarely used by historians working in Lebanon, there is a National Archives (also known as the Centre des Archives Nationales) in Beirut in the neighborhood of Hamra. The National Archives is the repository for Lebanon’s various government ministries. However, because there is no declassification law in Lebanon, it is difficult to ascertain exactly what files the National Archives possesses. There is a website for the Archives, but as of the writing of this article, the website has not been updated since 2015 and the most recent catalog of its holdings was published in the 1980s.
If you are intent on making a visit to the National Archives, it is open to the public Monday through Friday during normal business hours. Researchers must present a passport and complete an application, in Arabic, listing their topic of study, affiliation, and basic personal information. The application then must receive approval from the General Director of the Archives. Once you have received approval, you will need to speak to the archivists, who will retrieve documents relating to your stated project. The archivists are knowledgeable but are reported to have essentially absolute power within the building, and reserve the right to refuse any request. If a request is not refused outright, it may often be met with the claim that the files you are looking for were destroyed during the civil war. This may or may not be true, but what is certain is the archivists are the gatekeepers, and a positive relationship with them is necessary for any productive work to be done there.