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Hezbollah's Nasrallah: the "Great Man" of the Levant Nathan William Swanson Iowa State University

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Hezbollah's Nasrallah: the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2008 Hezbollah's Nasrallah: the "great man" of the Levant Nathan William Swanson Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the International Law Commons, and the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Swanson, Nathan William, "Hezbollah's Nasrallah: the "great man" of the Levant" (2008). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 15387. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/15387 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hezbollah’s Nasrallah: the “great man” of the Levant by Nathan William Swanson A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Major: Political Science Program of Study Committee: David Cunningham, Major Professor Robert Urbatsch Hsain Ilahiane Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2008 Copyright © Nathan William Swanson, 2008. All rights reserved. 1454686 1454686 2008 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. iv I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 II. EXPLAINING HEZBOLLAH ........................................................................................ 4 III. A DIFFERENT APPROACH.......................................................................................... 8 A. Challenging the Proxy Theory .................................................................................... 8 B. Individuals in International Relations ......................................................................... 9 C. Applying State Theories to Non-State Actors........................................................... 13 D. Hezbollah as a Pseudo-State...................................................................................... 20 E. Nasrallah as a “Great Man”....................................................................................... 24 IV. FOUR HYPOTHESES .................................................................................................. 26 V. BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND............................................................................. 29 A. The Party of God ....................................................................................................... 29 B. Hassan Nasrallah ....................................................................................................... 30 VI. WHO CONTROLS HEZBOLLAH? ............................................................................. 32 VII. THE BIRTH OF THE PARTY OF GOD (1982–1985) ................................................ 34 A. Hypothesis 1: Leader’s Calculations of Strategy ..................................................... 36 B. Hypothesis 2: Leader’s Shaping of the Group Internally......................................... 37 C. Hypothesis 3: Leader’s Personal Quest for Power and Prestige .............................. 38 D. Hypothesis 4: External Forces Driving Behavior..................................................... 39 VIII. TA’IF AGREEMENT (1989)........................................................................................ 44 A. Hypothesis 1: Leader’s Calculations of Strategy ..................................................... 46 B. Hypothesis 2: Leader’s Shaping of the Group Internally......................................... 46 iii C. Hypothesis 3: Leader’s Personal Quest for Power and Prestige .............................. 47 D. Hypothesis 4: External Forces Driving Behavior..................................................... 48 IX. LEBANESE GENERAL ELECTION (1992) ............................................................... 52 A. Hypothesis 1: Leader’s Calculations of Strategy ..................................................... 53 B. Hypothesis 2: Leader’s Shaping of the Group Internally......................................... 56 C. Hypothesis 3: Leader’s Personal Quest for Power and Prestige .............................. 58 D. Hypothesis 4: External Forces Driving Behavior..................................................... 58 X. WAR WITH ISRAEL (2006) ........................................................................................ 61 A. Hypothesis 1: Leader’s Calculations of Strategy ..................................................... 62 B. Hypothesis 2: Leader’s Shaping of the Group Internally......................................... 65 C. Hypothesis 3: Leader’s Personal Quest for Power and Prestige .............................. 67 D. Hypothesis 4: External Forces Driving Behavior..................................................... 69 XI. ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................... 73 A. Summary of Cases..................................................................................................... 73 B. Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 78 XII. IMPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................... 80 A. Hezbollah and Lebanon............................................................................................. 80 B. Iraq and Elsewhere .................................................................................................... 82 C. Non-State Actors in International Relations ............................................................. 83 D. Future Research......................................................................................................... 83 XIII. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 85 WORKS CITED ......................................................................................................................86 iv ABSTRACT Since its founding in the early 1980s, Hezbollah has become a major political player in Middle East politics. Attempts at explaining the organization’s behavior, however, has been largely limited to one theory—that the group’s actions are driven by long-time allies and benefactors Iran and Syria. This thesis challenges this “proxy” view of Hezbollah and explores, under the “great men” theory, the influence of the organization’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, a charismatic leader with celebrity status across the entire Arab world. This study finds that, while Iran and Syria were defining forces in Hezbollah’s early ideologies and actions, the organization now operates with a high level of independence, allowing Nasrallah to carry out his own vision for the Party of God. Therefore, to understand the organization today and to predict how it will act in the future, focus cannot remain solely on Iran and Syria but must be expanded to include the preferences and strategies of Secretary-General Nasrallah. 1 I. INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2006, the entire world was fixated on Southern Lebanon as tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Shi‘a organization Hezbollah1 escalated into war. The thirty-four days of conflict between this state actor and this non-state actor left many new questions about Hezbollah and reminded us of the complexities surrounding this unique movement. At the forefront of the mystery of Hezbollah is the question: what drives its behavior? Governments and media outlets have long answered this question by pinning the actions of the organization on Iran and Syria, largely ignoring other explanations. They casually and repeatedly credit Tehran and Damascus with ordering the actions of Hezbollah and providing the financial support for those actions to be taken. In doing so, they essentially reduce the complexities of Hezbollah to a single proxy theory, which says that the organization is little more than an extension of the states of Iran and Syria. While scholars, particularly recently, have questioned this approach, they have not provided real alternatives. Among the neglected explanations for Hezbollah’s behavior is the role that the Secretary-General of the organization, Hassan Nasrallah, plays in influencing and executing Hezbollah’s policies. As a popular figure in the Arab world, a cult of personality has developed around Nasrallah that makes him a particularly important individual for inquiry. This study examines the influence of this individual leader on Hezbollah’s behavior and thereby offers an alternative explanation to the proxy theory espoused by the mainstream media and many governments and scholars. It tests hypotheses on Nasrallah’s personal 1 A number of transliterations for Hezbollah are found in the scholarly literature, in official documents, in news reports, and in other sources. Unless contained in a direct quote from the work of others, this thesis will only use the transliteration “Hezbollah” for the purpose of uniformity. 2 connections to Hezbollah’s actions and does so alongside the dominant existing theory on Hezbollah’s behavior. Understanding Hezbollah contributes to our
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