Hizbullah: A Mission to Nowhere

This book explores the rise of Hizbullah as a direct consequence of both the Iranian Revolution and the entanglement of Lebanon in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Protracted civil war and overwhelming foreign intervention by Lebanon’s neighbors enabled Hizbullah to emerge as the country’s dominant politico-military force. Hizbullah disabled the Lebanese political system and, in its capacity as Iran’s premier foreign proxy, allowed the Islamic Republic to take the lead in the regional tug of war with Israel. In its quest for achieving a distinguished regional status commensurate with its ambitions, Iran used Hizbullah to abort the Syrian uprising, actively contribute to its burgeoning influence in Iraq, and participate in its propaganda war against Saudi Arabia on a range of issues. The renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran coincided with a worldwide campaign to dry up Hizbullah’s sources of funding and compromised its integrity as a critical provider of patronage to its Lebanese Shi’ite base of support. The emergence of Russia as the real power player in Syria made it extremely difficult for Hizbullah to justify the high human cost it incurred to salvage the regime of Bashar Asad. This book examines the rise of Hizbullah and the marginalization and repression of Shi’ites that made them susceptible to exploitation by their sectarian leaders.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 A Conceptual Introduction to Shi’ite Leadership Chapter 2 Shi’ism and the Imamate Question: Ingrained Sense of Historical Persecution Chapter 3 Lebanese Confessional Politics and Transition to Pan-Arab and Leftist Parties Chapter 4 The Charismatic Leadership of Musa al-Sadr and Palestinian Militarization Chapter 5 The Galvanic Impact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran Chapter 6 The Rise of Hizbullah and the Consolidation of its Powers Chapter 7 The Militant Charisma of Hasan Nasrallah Chapter 8 Hizbullah’s Foreign Ventures Chapter 9 The New Shi’ite Psyche: Implications for Lebanon and the Region Bibliography Index About the Author

About the Author :
Hilal Khashan is professor of political science at the American University of Beirut.

Review :
Khashan (political science, American Univ., Beirut) places the Lebanese political/terrorist organization Hizbullah in the contexts of Lebanese confessional politics, the Lebanese Shi?a community and its character, and the Iranian revolution. The volume's greatest strength is the wealth of Arabic-language material cited in the copious footnotes. Khashan provides much better sourcing than is available in other books about Hizbullah, resulting in a book that is more authoritative and more specific than other accounts. Another strength is Khashan's skill at bringing to life—as individuals, not just as political figures—the two most noteworthy leaders of the Lebanese Shi?a community, Musa al-Sadr and Hasan Nasrullah. . . . Summing Up: Recommended. . . Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. In Hizbullah, Khashan of the American University of Beirut expertly unfolds the political evolution of the group. . . . For those interested in where Hezbollah came from and where it may be going, this is a book well worth reading. Khashan does it again with this daring but thoroughly researched work. His controversial conclusions are insightful and are likely to generate bountiful debate. Hizbullah: A Mission to Nowhere is unique in the quantity and quality of the material that it provides on the past, present, and future roles of Hizbullah in the Middle East. Professor Khashan provides vivid descriptions of Nasrallah’s spiritual and charismatic powers and the deep animosity between the Shia and Sunni Muslims that has made Hizbullah the military wing of Shia Islam in its relentless religious war against Sunni Muslims. There can be no understanding of Hizbullah and its profound impact on the Middle East without the excellent analysis of this religious conflict that Khashan so expertly and thoroughly provides.