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1. Introduction: Studying the Impact of International Norms on Islamist Politics 1. - 2. The Western Critique of Liberalism: Communitarianism 15. - 3. Islamist Critiques of Liberalism: 'Abduh, Quṭb, al-Ṣadr and Khomeini 37. - 4. Islamism as Communitarianism: A comparative Analysis65. - 5. The Rise of Political Shi'ism in Lebanon 83. - 6. Non-Combatant Immunity and Israel-Hezbollah Wars: The Case of the April Understanding 99. - 7. Hezbollah and Human Rights Legislation in the Lebanese Parliament 115. - 8. Hezbollah and UNSC Resolutions 1559 and 1701 137. - 9. Community, Person and International Norms in Hezbollah's Political Language: Comparing the 1985 Open Letter and the 2009 Political Document 161. - 10. Conclusions: the Impact of International Norms on Islamist Politics 185

How do the norms of the liberal international order influence the activity of Islamist movements? This book assesses the extent to which Islamist groups, which have traditionally attempted to shield their communities from 'external' moral conceptions, have been influenced by the principles that regulate international society. Through an analysis of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Filippo Dionigi concludes that international norms are significant factors changing Islamist politics. We are still far from an accomplished resolve of the tension between Islamist communitarianism and liberal normative views, but a precarious equilibrium may emerge whereby Islamists are persuaded to rethink the idea of an allegedly 'authentic' Islamic morality as opposed to the legitimacy of international norms.

More than 250,000 Syrian refugees have relocated in the Kurdish Region of Iraq since 2011. The local response has been relatively receptive towards them. This study proposes an analysis of the concept of border and applies the idea of "border thinness" as an interpretative framework to examine the nature of transborder relations between the Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish areas. Relying on secondary sources, technical and elite level interviews with social and political actors in KRI, the analysis highlights how Kurdish areas of Syria and Iraq have maintained transborder relations which shaped the dynamics of displacement from Syria and constituted the context for a relatively receptive stance towards Syrian Kurdish refugees. Borders do not always mark a sharp territorial separation between social, political, and economic realities; instead a more complex conceptualization exposes transborder relational spaces, explaining the modes of displacement and its responses from host communities.

AbstractMore than 250,000 Syrian refugees have relocated in the Kurdish Region of Iraq since 2011. The local response has been relatively receptive towards them. This study proposes an analysis of the concept of border and applies the idea of "border thinness" as an interpretative framework to examine the nature of transborder relations between the Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish areas. Relying on secondary sources, technical and elite level interviews with social and political actors in KRI, the analysis highlights how Kurdish areas of Syria and Iraq have maintained transborder relations which shaped the dynamics of displacement from Syria and constituted the context for a relatively receptive stance towards Syrian Kurdish refugees. Borders do not always mark a sharp territorial separation between social, political, and economic realities; instead a more complex conceptualization exposes transborder relational spaces, explaining the modes of displacement and its responses from host communities.

Scholarly debate has persuasively highlighted the inherent tension between refugees and the modern state. Yet, how do state-refugee relations unfold in practice when considering the historical and social specificity of a single state? Is there a heuristic value in going beyond the premises of a general state-refugee binary and adopt a state-specific approach? These questions are addressed through an analysis based on the modelling of statehood in Lebanon and comparing five cases of refugee-state relations in this country. This method allows explaining the variation in degrees of segregation or integration of refugees and shows that the mode of politicization of refugees is the key factor in understanding this variation. Not all refugees and not all states are the same; the variance of state-refugee relations is best explained from a perspective that considers the historically situated nature of statehood.

AbstractIn 1953, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly elected a low-key and relatively unknown personality as the second Secretary General of the UN. Dag Hammarskjöld, nonetheless, turned out to be one of the most entrepreneurial and innovative Secretary Generals that the UN has ever had. He invented peacekeeping, radically reformed the administrative structure of the UN, and promoted a crucial multi-lateral diplomatic role for the UN Secretariat. Behind this innovative approach to the politics of the UN, there was a personality with a deep and complex religious discernment that emerged occasionally in public speeches, as well as in private writing. This article interprets Hammarskjöld's norms entrepreneurship through the lens of post-secular theory and the concept of Habermasian institutional translation. It shows how — in contrast with merely secularist assumptions — Hammarskjöld's religiosity shaped and advanced international political processes consistently with the principles of the UN Charter.

Filippo Dionigi argues that despite the recent presidential election nothing much has changed in Lebanon's domestic politics or its international rediolations

Owing to its geographic proximity, the overlap in language and historical relations with itsneighbour, Lebanon is one of the most obvious destinations for Syrians trying to escapethe civil war, and around 1.2 million have registered there with the UNHCR. This report provides an account of the situation in five sections. Firstly, it offers an account of the unfolding of the crisis from the perspective of Lebanese political institutions. Secondly, it maps political reactions to the crisis, focussing on the main actors involved. Thirdly, it analyses the status of Syrians displaced in Lebanon – displacement being one of the main sources of vulnerability. Fourthly, it highlights the role played by local administrations and international organisations in managing the crisis. And finally, it illustrates how Syrian-Lebanese migrations have a consolidated history based on mutual economic interests, and social and cultural ties. Based on these considerations, the report then proposes a set of possible courses of action to be undertaken by various stakeholders.

This essay discusses how international political theory can become more receptive towards Islamism. The central claim is that Islamism can be interpreted as a form of communitarianism. To underpin this claim, the study relies on an analysis of how the concepts of community and person are conceived in communitarianism and Islamism. On the basis of the affinities of these conceptions between Islamism and communitarianism the essay shows that Islamism can be interpreted as a form of communitarianism. The study then concludes that understanding Islamism as communitarianism produces a common space for public reasoning which would deserve more consideration from political theorists. Secondly Islamism as communitarianism reassesses the possibility of a political theory engagement with Islamist theory that can benefit the recognition of human rights norms in circumstances in which Islamism is particularly influential.