Hezbollah and the Axis of Refusal: Hamas,Iran and Syria |
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Authors: | Rola El Husseini |
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Affiliation: | 1. George HW Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&2. M University , 4220 College Station, TX , 77843-4220 , USA rhusseini@tamu.edu |
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Abstract: | Hezbollah has acquired a dual and contradictory reputation: as a legitimate political actor in Lebanon and as a terrorist organisation in the USA and Israel. This duality can be explained if we understand that Hezbollah is a nationalist entity that defines itself primarily within the Lebanese polity, as well as an anti-imperialist party intent on countering the regional hegemony of Israel and the USA. Forming alliances with Hamas, Iran and Syria, Hezbollah has become part of a ‘rejectionist’ axis that seeks to oppose perceived imperialism in the Middle East; this stance has become increasingly entrenched in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Characterisations that focus on Hezbollah as a military opponent confirm the organisation's perceived need for a rejectionist stance. International acceptance of Hezbollah as a legitimate political actor within the Lebanese polity, on the other hand, would help to bring the basis of the rejectionist axis into question. |
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