Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

List of Figures

Glossary of Arabic Terms

Preface - Mask or Mirror?

Chapter 1. On Socialisation and its Discontents

Chapter 2. Being Hezbollah

Chapter 3. Hezbollah Makes War, War Makes Hezbollah

Chapter 4. War-making as International Socialisation

Chapter 5. Tragic Ironies

Conclusion

Explains Hezbollah's ceaseless drive for survival and the unintended, tragic consequences it has generated What drives Hezbollah's political behaviour? For three decades we believed that the impetus of establishing an Islamic state in Lebanon was its main goal. This book disagrees. Drawn from over fifteen years of research, it traces Hezbollah's political trajectory, or socialisation process, from its birth in 1982 to 2017. It identifies the religio-political identity and doctrine that inspire Hezbollah and the politico-strategic goals that motivate it. It argues that war-making with Israel has driven Hezbollah's socialisation in Lebanon and the region, transforming the Islamist movement from a loose organization into one of the world's most powerful and sophisticated armed political movements. Key Features Uses a theoretical framework rooted in the intellectual tradition of Historical Sociology to offer a new conceptualisation of Hezbollah as an armed political movement Draws from International Relations and Sociological theories to advance an explanation of the causes and consequences of Hezbollah's socialisation process Uses field interviews in Lebanon, speeches and religio-political writings of Hezbollah officials, testaments of its fighters, and party communiqués Shows how Hezbollah's motivation to make war with Israel has generated unintended consequences including security paradoxes, political conformity, and ethical dilemmas. Adham Saouli is Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of St. Andrews. He is the author of The Arab State: Dilemmas of Late Formation (2012).

Adham Saouli is Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews and Professor of Politics and International Relations at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. Saouli is the author of the The Arab State: Dilemmas of Late Formation (Routledge, 2012), Hezbollah: Socialisation and its Tragic Ironies (Edinburgh University Press, 2019), editor of Unfulfilled Aspirations: Middle Power Politics in the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2020), and co-editor of The War for Syria (Routledge, 2020). Saouli is now examining the historical origins of and contemporary political impact of the Arabo-Islamic concept of Fitna (sedition, civil war).