ABSTRACT
In 2011, countries of the Arab world demonstrated signs of social movement for change. Referred to as the Arab Spring, the Middle East region ignited with a series of civilian revolutions first in Tunisia and later in other countries in the region including Egypt and Syria. As Ora Szelkey explains, the shift in the Syrian-Iranian axis and the pro-Western axis due the Syrian conflict challenged to Hezbollah’s role as a non-State domestic actor. This chapter will provide further evidence of Hezbollah’s increasing “influence” as a non-State actor in the Middle East, a case study of the Party’s intervention in the Syrian civil war is presented. I will give particular focus to the dynamics of the Party’s response to the Arab Spring and the justifications provided by the Party to convince its popular base of the religious necessity of the military intervention. This has been undertaken to provide a platform to further explore the links between religiosity and politics in the rhetoric of Hezbollah as embedded in its explanation of its involvement in Syria. I will also explore the implications of the intervention in Syria for Hezbollah’s reputation and identification as a non-State actor.
