BEIRUT—Hours after a catastrophic blast ripped through Beirut on Aug. 4, hundreds of volunteers fanned out across devastated neighborhoods, caring for the wounded, assessing damaged buildings and clearing rubble. The people of Lebanon had little faith their government could rise to the challenge.
Lebanon’s state institutions have failed the country—before and after the blast. The tragedy was the result of years of government neglect that allowed a stockpile of explosive chemicals to be stored in the heart of the densely populated…