Of the many Islamist groups that have emerged within the Muslim world over the last two decades, perhaps none has had so great an impact on Middle Eastern and International affairs as Hizbullah, the Party of God. This group of mainly Lebanese Shìte Muslims gained both infamy and fame by its resort to militancy mixed with political pragmatism in the pursuit of its goals. The oscillation between these two extremes has left most scholars and policymakers perplexed. This book serves as a pathway for understanding not only Hizbullah but also for other Islamist groups and their challenges to contemporary politics. Hamzeh examines the Hizbullah of Lebanon through a structural analysis using original and archival sources. Based on a constructed theoretical framework from a number of theories on crisis conditions, leadership, political parties and guerrilla warfare, In the Path of Hizbullah stands alone in its qualitative and quantitative treatment of one of the most complex contemporary Islamist organizations and provides a view of the party's future.

Hizbullah is not only a leading political actor in Lebanon and a dynamic force in the Middle East, but it is also distinguished by a sophisticated communication strategy. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Hizbullah's political clout and its public perception have followed an upward trajectory, thanks to a political programme that blends military, social, economic and religious elements and adapts to changes in its environment. Its communication strategy is similarly adaptive, supporting the group's political objectives. Hizbullah's target audience has expanded to a regional and global viewership. Its projected identity, too, shifted from an Islamist resistance party opposed to Israel's presence in Lebanon to a key player within the Lebanese state. At the same time, Hizbullah's image has retained fixed features, including its image as an ally of Iran; its role as a resistance group (to Israel); and its original base as a religious party representative of the Lebanese Shiites. The authors of this book address how Hizbullah uses image, language and its charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to legitimise its political aims and ideology and appeal to different target groups.

This detailed analysis follows the rise and evolution of Hezbollah from an Islamic resistance movement to its role as a governing force in Lebanon, exploring the group's impact on the security and power dynamics in the Middle East. This is the first book of its kind to offer a comprehensive study of Hezbollah, providing an overview of the organization's key personalities, events, and structures over the past three decades. Inspired by the latest terrorism research and contemporary developments in the Middle East, the book reflects upon Hezbollah's religious foundations and its present role as a player in Middle East relations. Chapters place Hezbollah within the Middle East security environment, analyzing the rise of the Party of God within the context of Iranian-inspired Shi'a activism, examining the ideological underpinnings of the movement, and addressing its dominant political position post Arab Spring. This authoritative volume introduces the party's full range of activities, including resistance, propaganda, organized crime, and educational facilities. The content highlights Hezbollah's role as a social welfare provider—specifically, the types of aid given, the source of financing for the endeavor, and the challenge this role presents to the Lebanese state.

This book explores the intended and unintended impact of international criminal justice on the legitimacy of quasi-state entities (QSEs). In order to do so, the concept of ‘quasi-state entity’ is introduced to distinguish actors in statehood conflicts that aspire to statehood, and fulfil statehood functions to a greater or lesser degree, including the capacity and willingness to deploy armed force, but lack the status of sovereign statehood. This work explores the ability of QSEs to create and maintain legitimacy for their actions, institutions and statehood projects in various constituencies simultaneously. It looks at how legitimacy is a prerequisite for success of QSEs and, using critical legitimacy theory, assesses the legitimating narratives of QSEs and their statehood adversaries. The book links international criminal justice to statehood projects of QSEs and their success and legitimacy. It looks at the effects of international criminal justice on the ability to create and maintain legitimacy of QSEs, an approach that leads to new insights regarding international courts and tribunals as entities competing with states over statehood functions that increasingly have to take the legal implications of their actions into consideration. Most important, a close assessment of the legitimising narratives of QSEs, counter narratives, and the messages sent by international criminal justice with which QSEs have to deal, and their ability to overcome legitimacy crises, provides insight on QSEs and the complex processes of legitimation. This book will be of much interest to students of international criminal justice, political violence, security studies and IR.

This book explores Hizbullah's understanding of 'being Lebanese' to meet evolving political challenges and gain influence within Lebanon and the wider region.

Who are the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizbullah? What do the two movements - one Sunni and one Shi'a - have in common? Despite being classified by a number of countries as 'terrorist' organisations, both are in fact serious political players in the states in which they operate - Egypt and Lebanon. Both have, at various points, advocated pan-Islamism: the unity of Muslims under an Islamic state or caliphate, but, rather than considering them as extremist religious movements, Eva Dingel here studies them as players within the political process. She considers why, at certain points, they have chosen to play by the conventional political rules, while during other periods, they have applied different, more extreme, methods of political protest. Dingel's comparative history of two of the most prominent political Islamist movements sheds light on the complex - and often misunderstood - interaction between Islam and politics in the Middle East. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the changing dynamics of politics in the Islamic world.

Philanthropy is a vital lens through which to examine the dynamics of the Muslim world. Islamic charities harness enormous material and human resources, as well as organizational capacity. Many in the West view Muslim philanthropic enterprises with considerable skepticism because of accusations of material support for, or condoning of, acts of violence against civilians. Drawing on CSIS's regional and functional expertise, Understanding Islamic Charities explores the variety of roles that Muslim philanthropies play in different countries, their interactions with national and international institutions, and the boundaries and connections between their philanthropic roles and their political impacts.

Many armed-political movements such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) have their roots in insurrection and rebellion. The author seeks to understand when and why violent actors in a political organization choose to vote rather than bomb their way to legitimacy.

This book is the first systematic assessment of current trends and patterns of militancy in Shii communities in the Middle East and South Asia - specifically in Iran, Iraq, but also in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Bahrain. It addresses two key questions: What trends emerge in the types of militancy Shii actors employ both inside and outside of the Shii heartland? And what are the main drivers of militancy in the Shii community?

Analyses of the political and ideological transformation of Hizbullah.