Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society

287 Pages·2014·1.795 MB·English

by  Filippo Dionigi (auth.)

Middle East Today
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Fawaz A. Gerges
Professor of International Relations
Emirates Chair of the Modern Middle East
Department of International Relations
London School of Economics
Nader Hashemi
Director, Center for Middle East Studies
Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
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Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society
Filippo Dionigi
Hezbollah, Islamist Politics,

and International Society
Filippo Dionigi
HEZBOLLAH, ISLAMIST POLITICS, AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
Copyright © Filippo Dionigi, 2014.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-40301-8
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-48688-5 ISBN 978-1-137-40302-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137403025
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dionigi, Filippo.
Hezbollah, Islamist politics, and international society / by Filippo
Dionigi.
pages cm.—(Middle East today)
1. Hizballah (Lebanon) 2. Islamic fundamentalism—
Lebanon. 3. Islam and politics—Lebanon. 4. Lebanon—Politics
and government—1975–1990. 5. Lebanon—Politics and
government—1990– I. Title.
JQ1828.A98H6238 2014
324.5692(cid:25)082—dc23 2014026492
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: December 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents

List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments and Dedication ix
1 Introduction: Studying the Impact of International Norms
on Islamist Politics 1
2 The Western Critique of Liberalism: Communitarianism 15
3 Islamist Critiques of Liberalism: ʿAbduh, Quṭb, al-Ṣadr, and
Khomeini 37
4 Islamism as Communitarianism: A Comparative Analysis 65
5 The Rise of Political Shiʿism in Lebanon 83
6 Noncombatant Immunity and Israel-Hezbollah Wars:
The Case of the April Understanding 99
7 Hezbollah and Human Rights Legislation in the Lebanese
Parliament 115
8 Hezbollah and UNSC Resolutions 1559 and 1701 137
9 Community, Person, and International Norms in
Hezbollah’s Political Language: Comparing the 1985
Open Letter and the 2009 Political Document 161
10 Conclusions: The Impact of International Norms on
Islamist Politics 185
Notes 203
Bibliography 255
Index 271
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Figures

9.1 Compared frequency of terms referring to collective
entities in the OLD and the PCH 170
9.2 Compared frequency of terms referring to individuals
in the OLD and the PCH 175
9.3 Compared aggregated frequency of religious and
nonreligious/nationalized vocabulary in the OLD and
the PCH 176
9.4 Compared aggregated frequency of international
norms vocabulary in the OLD and the PCH 179
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgments and

Dedication
This book is the result of a research for which I have received help,
support, and very useful criticism from many. I, first and foremost,
have to thank Katerina Dalacoura, who has been of great help since
the beginning of the project and has instilled in me curiosity, stimu-
lated criticism, and the will to research. I owe a special thanks to Fawaz
Gerges, who has been always willing to listen and discuss and has not
spared criticism as well as encouragement. I also have to thank Mervyn
Frost for his helpful comments on a previous draft of the book and for
his kind support. I would also like to thank all the students, journal-
ists, researchers, human rights activists, military officers, UN personnel,
diplomats, members of parliament, political activists, and all the others
I met during this research. The LSE Middle East Centre, and its wonder-
ful staff, have also been a fundamental resource of help and support.
I also want to thank my colleagues and friends at the LSE, especially
Adel Altoraifi, Gregorio Bettiza, Annie Bird, Alex J. Edwards, Rebekka
Friedman, Andrew Jillions, Yaniv Voller, and the many others who have
participated in extremely useful discussions leading to this publication.
I want to make clear, nevertheless, that the views expressed in this
book are solely and exclusively my own.
The book would not have been possible without the help of my fam-
ily, especially my father, Roberto, and mother, Annalinda, to whom I am
particularly indebted. Furthermore, my brother, Elisabetta, my sisters,
Stefano, and my nephews have all been always close to me and interested
in hearing about my research. The support and encouragement that I
have received from Maja was also very special.
My friends have been a source of great motivation and support, espe-
cially Stefano, Bobby, Maria, Anna, Flavia, Roberto, and Guido. I owe a
great deal to their company and joy.
I became interested in social sciences because I think its study can
make our lives and our societies better. What primarily motivates my