"Larger than a Party, yet Smaller than a State": Locating Hezbollah's Place within Lebanon's State and Society

Abstract

the world's most lethal and effective guerilla/ terrorist organizations.' Although that reputation is certainly justified, the organization has changed substantially from the Iranian-led orga nization involved in the 1983 suicide bombing of an American Marine base in Lebanon. The orga nization that the U.S. government has labeled, and is pushing the rest of Europe also to label, as a terrorist organization comprises the largest party bloc within Lebanon's democratically elected parliament. It is Lebanon's largest non state provider of healthcare and social services and operates schools of such high quality that even non-Muslims send their children to them. Equating Hezbollah to al Qaeda in the war against terrorism ignores the substantial role that the organization plays within Lebanese society and the legitimate position it enjoys within the country's government. Within the context of its foreign policy towards Lebanon, the U.S. gov ernment has had difficulties differentiating between Hezbollah, the terrorist organization, and Hezbollah, the responsible social and politi cal actor, because the two represent different faces of the same coin. The nature of Hezbollah's relationship with the Lebanese state and its posi tion with the country's larger society suggests that U.S. attempts to dislodge and disarm the organization could very well suffer the same fate that Israel's did, and, furthermore, could poten tially lead to the organization's empowerment. On the basis of the intricate relationships that exist between Hezbollah, the Lebanese state,