Lebanon

Abstract

No description of current trends in Shii militancy would be complete without addressing the case of Hizballah. The Lebanon-based movement stands out in comparison with other Shii non-state armed groups in the region in terms of its political power, popular legitimacy, domestic and regional influence, as well as its sophisticated military capabilities. In fact, Hizballah represents the only real success story of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his entourage’s attempts to truly internationalize and export the Islamic Revolution. The reasons behind the group’s success are numerous and complex. They are partly connected to Hizballah’s strong Shii religious identity and partly to its ability to transcend beyond this identity and act simultaneously as a Lebanese, regional, and global political actor. Lebanon clearly offers a more fertile ground than most other countries in the region to build a Shii-based political and military movement. Constituting an estimated 35-38 percent of the population, the Lebanese Shiis represent the largest religious minority within the country,1 providing this group greater leverage in Lebanon than in most other Middle Eastern countries. In addition, the breakdown of the Lebanese political system and the rise of internal factionalism, which escalated in 1975 into a full-fledged and bloody civil war that lasted until 1990, led all major sectarian groups to create their own armed militias, further facilitating the establishment and development of Hizballah. Hizballah’s success is not only a byproduct of its security and political environment. Since the 1990s, the group has risen quickly to become the main leader of the Lebanese Shii community by reviving and championing its religious identity and by employing religious discourse to both unite and politically empower the previously marginalized Lebanese Shiis. Hizballah has created its own new ethos of dignity and “resistance,” drawing heavily on Shii doctrinal concepts to both promote its political agenda and operations, while maintaining consensus within the Shii community. To this day, when speaking to its internal audience, Hizballah still strongly emphasizes its Shii identity to mobilize its constituency.2 While Hizballah’s core message and origins are highly centered around its Shii religious identity, the group has simultaneously developed parallel identities and political discourses that allow it to transcend its sectarian niche and make its message relevant both regionally and globally. This chapter will argue that the Shii movement has acquired parallel identities in recent years: A Lebanese nationalist identity, coupled with a pan-Islamic and “internationalist” character. All the while, the movement has developed a pragmatic discourse grounded in political rather than religious principles-a trend that has enabled the group to rise above the limits of Shii sectarian politics. Apart from Hizballah’s ability to develop and maintain a complex and multilayered political and religious identity, another key factor that has contributed to the group’s political and military success has been the organization’s pragmatism, evident in its capacity to evolve and adapt to meet a rapidly shifting security and political environment. In this sense, the group has matured from a marginal sectarian militia to a prominent political and social movement and key political party both within and beyond Lebanon. At the same time, Hizballah has continued to invest in its armed capabilities, making it the most formidable and sophisticated non-state armed group in the Middle East, a powerful quasi army. Even though Hizballah continues to expand and is far from relinquishing its militant objectives, however, it is not entirely accurate to suggest that the group is currently undergoing a phase of intensifying militancy. Not only would this assessment imply that the group went through a dormant phase or that it shifted its main military goals over time; it would also disregard its partial political integration within Lebanon. On the contrary, throughout its history, Hizballah has shown remarkable continuity in pursuing its militant objectives, while the group’s increased regional involvement should be seen as a byproduct of its growing regional status and changing political opportunities. To better understand the ongoing trends in Hizballah’s domestic and regional involvement, and to clarify the role of Shii identity in shaping the group’s current discourse, this chapter examines the political and religious evolution of the organization. It will emphasize Hizballah’s ability to incorporate multiple identities and its ever-present drive to adapt and expand.