The Segregation and/or Integration of Hezbollah as a Non-State Actor in beating the Scale of the Lebanese Government Regional Policy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/Keywords:
Iranian issues, Hezbollah, non-state actorness foreign policymaking, regional complex, Middle East competition, Arab conflicts, ideologyAbstract
The Shiite position before the Lebanese civil war differs significantly from the one after it. Through the war they were transformed from a marginalized group to compelling players on the lebanese and regional political arena. The momentous reason behind the Shiite empowerment was the emergence of Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. The relation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government is decided by the controversial regional issues. The paper aims to investigate Hezbollah’s ideology and so-called Lebanonization regarding Lebanese foreign policy. It demonstrates that Hezbollah is a rational non-state actor who is part of the regional comparative dynamics and power struggle. It argues that Hezbollah is a pragmatic ideology-driven actor which plays both cards of integration and segregation. The integration provides a refuge for Hezbollah while the segregation enables it to pursue its regional agenda. The method of discourse analysis is used in examining Hezbollah’s ideology, governance and foreign policy.
References
[1] Alagha Joseph, Hizbullah’s DNA and the Arab Spring, KW Publishers Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2013.
[2] Alagha Joseph, Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology: Religious Ideology, Political Ideology, and Political Program, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2006.
[3] Alagha Joseph, Hizbullah’s Documents: From the 1985 Open Letter to the 2009 Manifesto, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2011.
[4] Al Jazzera Arabic, The Urgent Arab Summit Refuses Iran ’Intervention’ and Iraq objects, Available from https://www.aljazeera.net/news/politics/ (accessed 4 August 2019).
[5] Al- Jumhuriya, Nasrallah Attacks “Tehran’s Government” in Lebanon. Available from: https://www.aljoumhouria.com/news/index/473897 (accessed 24 July 2019).
[6] Anouzla Ali, “Why are the summits in Mecca being held?”, Middle East Monitor. Available from https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190530-why-are-thesummits-in-mecca-being-held/ (accessed 4 August 2019).
[7] Aydinli Ersel, “Assessing Violent Non-State Actorness in Global Politics: A Framework for Analysis”, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 242–444.
[8] Azani Eitan, Hezbollah the Story of the Party of God, Palgrave McMillan, New York, 2011.
[9] Baumann Rainer, and Stengel Frank A., “Foreign Policy Analysis, Globalisation, and Non-State Actors: State-Centric After All?”, Journal of International Relations and Development, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 489–521.
[10] Davis Diane E., “Non-State Armed Actors, New Imagined Communities, and Shifting Patterns of Sovereignty and Insecurity in the Modern World”, Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 221–245.
[11] Gleis Joshua L. and Berti Benedetta, Hezbollah and Hamas: A Comparative Study, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2012.
[12] Maloney Suzanne, “Identity and Change in Iran’s Foreign Policy”, in: Raymond Hinnebusch and Anoushiravan Ehteshami (eds.), The Foreign Policy of Middle East States, Boulder, Co.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002, pp. 88–116.
[13] Moqawama Al-Islamiya, official website, video gallery, 31 May 2019 (accessed 15 June 2019) https://video.moqawama.org/details.php?cid=1&linkid=2052.
[14] New TV, Nasrallah: Lebanon’s position in the Arab Summit disagree with the government’s guide. Available from: https://www.aljadeed.tv/arabic/news/local/3105201994 (accessed 24 July 2019).
[15] Noe Nicholas, Voice of Hezbollah: The Statements of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Verso, Brooklyn, 2007.
[16] Norton Augustus Richard, Amal and the Shi’a: Struggle for the Soul of Lebanon, University of Texas, Texas, 1987.
[17] Norton Augustus Richard, Hezbollah A Short History, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2009.
[18] Perry Mark, ‘Talking to terrorists: Hamas and Hezbollah’, in: K. Yambert (ed.), The Contemporary Middle East, 3rd ed., USA, Westview Press, 2013.
[19] Qassem Naim, Hizbullah The Story from Within, Saqi, London, 2010.
[20] Ranstorp, Magnus, ‘The strategy and tactics of Hezbollah’s current Lebanonization process,’ Mediterranean Politics, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 103–134.
[21] Salamé Ghassan, ‘Is a Lebanese Foreign Policy Possible?’, in: Halim Barakat (ed.), Toward a Viable Lebanon, Routledge, London, 1987.
[22] Salem Paul, ‘Reflections on Lebanon’s Foreign Policy,’ in: Collings, Deirdre (ed.), Peace for Lebanon? From War to Reconstruction, Lynn Rienner, Colorado, 1994, pp. 69–82.
[23] Shalabi Samir, Hezbollah: Ideology, Practice, and the Arab Revolts Between Popular Legitimacy and Strategic Interest, BA Thesis, Lund University, 2015.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
