Hezbollah: A Short History

Prologue 1 Chapter 1: Origins and Prehistory of Hezbollah 9 The Rise of Shi'i Politics from the Mid-twentieth Century to the Lebanese Civil War 14 The Role of Musa al-Sadr 18 The Resurgence of Amal 21 Chapter 2: The Founding of Hezbollah 27 The Iraq Connection 30 The 1982 Israeli Invasion 32 Hezbollah Emerges 34 The Hezbollah Worldview 35 Implementing the Design 41 Chapter 3: Being a Shi'i Muslim in the Twenty-first Century 47 Ritual and Identity 51 The Intersection of Ritual and Politics 58 Chapter 4: Resistance, Terrorism, and Violence in Lebanon 69 Hezbollah and Terrorism 75 Occupation in Southern Lebanon 79 The "Rules of the Game" 83 The 2000 Israeli Withdrawal 88 Chapter 5: Playing Politics 95 Hezbollah's Decision to Participate 98 Municipal Elections 103 The Revolt of the Hungry 105 The Rich Texture of Shi'i Institutions 107 Chapter 6: From Celebration to War 113 The Changing Social Tapestry in Post-Civil War Lebanon 120 Lebanon's Love-Hate Relationship with Rafiq Hariri, and His Assassination 124 Setting the Stage for War 132 The Start of Hostilities, July 2006 135 Prosecuting the War 137 Conclusion 145 Hezbollah in a Fractured Postwar Lebanon 152 What Next? 157 Afterword to the Paperback Edition 161 Glossary 173 Additional Reading 175 Sources Cited 181 Index 185 Acknowledgments 197

Augustus Richard Norton is professor of international relations and anthropology at Boston University. A former U.S. Army officer and West Point professor, he has conducted research in Lebanon for close to three decades.

"Augustus Richard Norton's timely Hezbollah chronicles [a] dramatic evolution and its sweeping implications for the region and beyond. His lucid primer is the first serious reappraisal of the radical Shiite group since [the 2006] war shattered six years of relative calm on one of the world's most volatile frontiers."--Jonathan Finer, Washington Post Book World