Current Analysis Deflating Middle East Extremism President Bush and many other supporters of the current Israeli assault on Lebanon and its reoccupation of the Gaza Strip justify these military actions on the grounds that Hamas and Hezbollah do not recognize Israel’s right to exist. Negotiating with “terrorists” is impossible, they claim, because Joel Beinin • 4 min read
Current Analysis Hizballah: A Primer Hizballah, the Lebanese Shi‘i movement whose militia is fighting the Israeli army in south Lebanon, has been cast misleadingly in much media coverage of the ongoing war. Much more than a militia, the movement is also a political party that is a powerful actor in Lebanese politics and a Lara Deeb • 20 min read
Current Analysis Israel’s War Against Lebanon’s Shi‘a When Israel undertook its aerial and naval bombardment of Lebanon on July 12, one announced goal was to recover two Israeli servicemen seized by Hizballah in a cross-border raid earlier that day. The attacks upon civilian infrastructure—beginning with Beirut International Airport and continuing with Jim Quilty • 12 min read
Current Analysis Converging Upon War “WAR,” proclaimed the three-inch headline in Ma‘ariv, Israel’s leading daily, the day after Hizballah launched its cross-border attack on an Israeli army convoy on July 12. With the onset of Israel’s massive bombing campaign in Lebanon that evening, its aerial and ground incursions into Gaza were tr Robert Blecher • 13 min read
Current Analysis How UN Pressure on Hizballah Impedes Lebanese Reform When the last Syrian soldier left Lebanese territory in April 2005, jubilant crowds gathered in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to celebrate the coming of a new era. In Washington and Paris, the mood was also festive, as officials praised what they called Lebanon’s “Cedar Revolution” as the first in Reinoud Leenders • 17 min read
MER Article Hizballah After the Syrian Withdrawal Since the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 in September 2004, Hizballah has been in the international spotlight. In addition to demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, the resolution calls for the “disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias,” p Joseph Alagha • 15 min read
Current Analysis Lebanon Catches Its Breath The February 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri has precipitated a rapid and dramatic transformation of Lebanon’s political landscape. In the six weeks following the assassination, the Lebanese government collapsed and Syria began the process of withdrawing its soldiers and intelligence officers from Lebanon, almost 30 Nicholas Blanford • 12 min read
MER Article Iran, the Vatican of Shi'ism? The Iranian state, controlled de facto by the conservatives in the government, promotes the idea that Iran is the center of Shi‘ism. It bases its argument on the fact that Iran is a Shi‘i-run state, whereas Shi‘i Muslims in other parts of the world live in states that are dominated by Sunnis, and so Roschanack Shaery • 11 min read
Current Analysis Hizballah and Syria's "Lebanese Card" The clock is ticking on a surprising UN Security Council resolution, passed on September 2, calling on Syria to cease its various forms of interference in Lebanon. France and the United States co-sponsored the call on "all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon," which charged the UN Nicholas Blanford • 11 min read
Current Analysis Holding Syria Accountable, Though Selectively With George W. Bush stubbornly insisting that the US is making “progress” in the “central phase of the war on terror” in Iraq, pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans in Congress figure it is time for phase three. Some think tankers want to train Washington’s gunsights on Iran, but next week Congress w Chris Toensing • 3 min read
Current Analysis Hizballah in the Firing Line The overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and Washington's recent pressure on Syria have placed Lebanon's Hizballah organization firmly in the firing line in the next phase of George W. Bush's war on terrorism. But Hizballah is confident that its strategic Nicholas Blanford • 10 min read
Current Analysis Fears of a Second Front On March 30, Hizballah attacked several Israeli army outposts in the Shebaa Farms, a disputed strip of mountainous territory running along Lebanon's southeast border with the Golan Heights, in the first such attack since mid-January. Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, Hizballah's secretary-general, reportedly authorized preparations for stepped-up operations Nicholas Blanford • 10 min read
