Lebanon’s parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday, filling a 14-month leadership void with a figure widely approved by the United States and international allies. The vote underscores Hezbollah’s diminished influence following its war with Israel and regional shifts, including the fall of its ally Bashar Assad in Syria.

Though Lebanon’s presidency is mostly symbolic, it has a few important powers, like approving prime ministers and cabinets. In a country still haunted by the memory of civil war, symbolism is important too: how the head of state is chosen says much about the balance of power in Lebanon’s factious politics.

Lebanon’s Parliament on Thursday elected the country’s army commander Joseph Aoun as its president, ending a two-year deadlock and power vacuum at the top of the country’s political power structure. The U.