Hezbollah's Survival: Resources and Relationships

Key takeaways

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Reading notes

• Expalining surivial and the strategic options of coercion

• States sometimes find themselves the unwilling providers of aid to nonstate groups. The most common form of coer-cion occurs when a weak state is unable to prevent the use of its territory as a base of operations. Because of the value of specific pieces of territory, militant groups may be less willing to take “no” for an answer.

• Marketing is also a useful tactic

• On the other hand, ineffective market-ing can backfire badly. A movement that frames itself in a way that does not reso-nate with or, worse yet, alarms the public or potential sponsors, stands to lose access to any gains. And movements that frame themselves too narrowly may find them-selves appealing to an unsustainably small constituency. (relate this to Israels plan to destroy nationalism and how it backfired)

• First reprots of hizbohllah activity were in 1983 with teh bombings of the American embassy and marin barrakcs and the french paratrooper barracks in beiruty

• In the early years of hizbohallahs existence reliance on Iranian funding was as high as 5-$10 million dollars a month

• Its radical islamist approach alarmed syria which desired stability and control above all- meaning it much desired amal over hizbollah

• In 1984 in the bekaa valley in may, syria attempted to contain hezbohllah and in 1986 casualities were generated on both sides

• This conflict with syria translated to tension with amal and with the kidnapping of US army colonel william higgins in 1988, open warfare erupted in which syria backed amal

• Whilst hezbohllah established itself in beirut, they had been kicked out of much of hte south by amal