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Profile photo of Rola El-Husseini Dean

Rola El-Husseini Dean

Researcher

Profile photo of Rola El-Husseini Dean

Hezbollah and the axis of refusal : Hamas, Iran and Syria

Author

  • Rola El Husseini

Summary, in English

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.

Publishing year

2010-09-08

Language

English

Pages

803-815

Publication/Series

Third World Quarterly

Volume

31

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Political Science

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0143-6597