The Hizbullah Phenomenon: Politics and Communication

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 ap- peal to different target groups.

About the Author :
Lina Khatib is the Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. She is the author of Image Politics in the Middle East (2013). Dina Matar is the Director of the Centre for Media and Film Studies at SOAS, London. She is the author of What it Means to be Palestinian (2010). Atef Alshaer is a Lecturer in Arabic Language and Culture at the University of Westminster. He has published numerous articles and reviews on the literature, politics and culture of the Arab World. He was educated at Birzeit University in Palestine and SOAS, University of London, where he obtained his PhD and taught for a number of years.

Review :
'The Hizbullah Phenomenon' marks a welcome shift in research from the kinetic to the communicative evolution of this complex political organisation. It analyses forensically the way Hizbullah shapes its discourses at both strategic and tactical levels. Penetrative and revealing, this book builds on the authors' earlier work on the role of political imagery in the Middle East. A must-read for students, academics and policymakers. Unlike the states that can survive by coercion, social and political movements have to rest on intense publicity and self-presentation if they are to sustain and prosper. This book uncovers how the Lebanese Hizbullah has since its inception deployed an elaborate strategy of image-making to build its political communication. 'The Hizbullah Phenomenon' is a valuable study on the interplay of culture, language, and the visual, on the one hand, and political mobilisation, on the other. This book presents an original and engaging overview of Hizbullah's ideology and strategy, the ways in which it communicates key messages to its constituency, and the means by which it adapts its communication tactics in response to local and regional political change. Drawing on a rich assortment of primary and secondary sources, 'The Hizbullah Phenomenon' is accessible, very well written, and appealing to scholars on Islamic Movements, Lebanon watchers, and students of the Middle East. This volume offers an absorbing perspective on one of the most influential political bodies in the Middle East, arguing that the party's remarkable international impact cannot be fathomed without engaging seriously with its political communication strategies and performance. It is particularly valuable for the wealth of information that is hard to come by for readers without Arabic. These studies add immensely to our knowledge of Hezbollah and its extraordinary rise over the past three decades to become one of the major political and military actors in the Middle East. . . . But as Lina Khatib and her colleagues detail, that rise was also due to a use of the media as a political tool unparalleled in the Arab world.