Hezbollah: mobilization and power
In: Oxford scholarship online
In: Political Science
Almost 30 years after its foundation, Lebanese Hezbollah is an organization that remains difficult to understand. What exactly is Hezbollah? An Islamist terrorist group dedicated to destroying Israel? The first Arab national resistance to have ever defeated Tel Aviv's troops? A patriotic & respectable party or a fascist network having managed to control all levels of Lebanese political life? How did this organization acquire such an important role in the Middle-Eastern game & in Lebanese politics? This text has three purposes. Firstly, to articulate a definition of Hezbollah, presenting a thorough history of the party, describing its internal structure & the large scope of its social & political action. Secondly, to explain the evolution of the party's mobilization. Finally, to show another path, political but mainly identity-related: that of the Shiite community, the main constituent of Lebanese society today.