Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society

Filippo Dionigi

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781137403025
• Topic: Politique et relations internationales
• Subtopic: Relations internationales

How do the norms of the liberal international order affect the activity of Islamist movements? This book analyzes and assesses the extent to which Islamist groups, which have traditionally attempted to shield their communities from "alien" moral conceptions, have been affected by the rules and principles that regulate international society. Through an analysis of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Filippo Dionigi concludes that international norms are among the most significant factors changing Islamist politics. The result is a precarious but innovative equilibrium in which Islamists are forced to rethink idea of an allegedly "authentic" Islamic morality and the legitimacy of international norms.

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Introduction: Studying the Impact of International Norms on Islamist Politics

International Norms and Islamist Politics

This is a study in International Relations primarily concerned with the influence of international norms in global politics. It proposes an analysis and assessment of how these norms influence Islamist politics and what effects they have on Islamism.

International norms—herein understood primarily as the norms of the “liberal international project”¹—have long been disputed. Alternative political ideals that put emphasis on communal affiliation, tradition, and particular ethical conceptions have constantly challenged the legitimacy of norms and institutions which, however, claim universal validity and rely on a conception of the individual human being as the fundamental unit of moral concern.

This study focuses primarily on this tension. It frames the relationship between the political activity of Islamist movements and international norms in the wider international political theory debate—in particular, the liberal-communitarian debate—and shows that the Islamist objections to liberalism and international norms originate from the same assumptions as those that form the basis of the communitarian critique of liberalism. It then proposes an empirical analysis of how an Islamist movement interacts with international norms and shows that, notwithstanding its self-referential political identity and its communitarian assumptions, Islamism becomes subject to the influence of international norms via a process of international socialization.

The study combines political theory with historical and sociological analyses. One of the key methodological principles that inspired this inquiry and reflecting the multidisciplinarity of this project can be summed up with Fred Halliday’s words, when he wrote that

matching an analytical universalism with a historical particularism, can provide a means of avoiding both the rampant relativism that has dominated discussion of the Middle East in recent years, and that bland universalism that applies to the Middle East general schemata for the Third World, without taking its special character into account.²

The objective, then, is to reflect upon the relevance of international norms for Islamist politics, taking into account particular historical and social phenomena but also leaning on a broader theoretical interpretative framework that shows commonalities between Western and Islamist critiques of international liberal norms.

By providing an analysis that takes into account aspects of political theory and historical and social processes, this book intends to contribute to a better understanding³ of the importance of international norms, their dynamics of diffusion and implementation, their influence in international politics, and their potential in advancing a more just and peaceful international society.

Introducing the Argument

The book begins by showing, with reference to communitarian political theory, that international norms and liberalism have been constantly subject to criticism within the Western political theory debate. It then discusses Islamist political theory, especially with regard to its critique of liberal institutions, international norms, and, in general, modern secular societies. Subsequently, on the basis of a comparative analysis, it claims that communitarian and Islamist critiques of liberalism rely on specific assumptions about the kind of persons we are and the way we live together, whether in communities or societies. Both communitarianism and Islamism share particular conceptions of personhood and community on which they build their critical arguments against international norms and liberal society in general. Nonetheless, the empirical analysis that follows this theoretical discussion will show how, in practice, Islamism assimilates certain international norms. Occasionally, Islamism even uses these norms to legitimate its actions or remains indifferent toward their implementation. Fundamentally, the conclusion of this inquiry is that, notwithstanding the hostile stance of Islamism to international norms and liberal ethics in general, international norms do have an impact on Islamism, although it is limited and often instrumental to political interests.

Three concluding observations are proposed as resulting from this analysis. The first is that Islamist politics cannot rely simply on the idea of an isolated and self-referential Islamic community. Islamist movements, and the societies in which they operate, have increasingly become part of a broader political and social context in which interactions among persons, states, and societies are regulated by norms and institutions which do not base their legitimacy on Islamic ethics (although they can still be fully consistent with it). International norms play a significant role in regulating these relations.

Following on this first point, therefore, Islamism cannot count on a conception of person whose identity and moral value are solely derived from his or her communal Islamic membership. The Muslim community is not a barrier to broader social and political arrangements, and persons not only become “constituted” by their affiliation to their respective religious community but also take part in broader social environments as national groups, global civil society, or, even more importantly, in a shared sense of universal humanity.

The third observation of this study is related to the definition of this process of transition of Islamism within the debate in International Relations and claims that it can be understood as a form of international socialization. Islamist movements, by interacting with international norms, are being progressively socialized within international society, rather than remain isolated or even alienated from it. Islamists’ interaction with international actors produces a progressive assimilation within their political identity of international norms and the liberal assumptions underlying these norms, although this process is still at an early stage. This process is far from being complete; it is characterized by violence and is constantly undermined by a regional and global environment in which advancements toward the integration of Islamist movements in international society suffer from constant setbacks. Therefore, no simple deterministic conclusion shall be elicited by the fact that international norms have an impact on the practices of Islamist politics.

Methodology: Comparative Theory and Least Likely Single Case Study

In order to justify the argument of this research, a theoretical comparative discussion of Islamism and communitarianism is herein combined with a least likely single case study.⁴ As said above, the theoretical analysis will argue that Islamism can be considered as a form of communitarianism, and based on this theoretical consideration the book then proceeds with the case study. The case under analysis is the Islamist movement Hezbollah, and the choice of this case is due to a “least-likely” methodological criterion.⁵ The strength of a “least-likely” case is that it allows for reasonable generalizations. The idea is that, if this inquiry succeeds in substantiating the claim that international norms influence the Islamist politics of Hezbollah, then the same can be reasonably expected for “less tough” cases such as Islamist movements adopting less radical stances and embedded in a regional context that is more conducive to international integration instead of polarization.

Hezbollah is a least-likely case because, being an Islamist movement, by definition its political identity refers exclusively to Islamic principles and not to other ethical paradigms such as international ethics.⁶ In addition to this, its political identity, originally, has been defined in sharp antagonism with external interferences of any sort. Its military and political action has been justified exclusively along traditional Islamist lines, also resorting to political violence. Its intransigent political profile (even more intransigent of other movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, the Islamic Action Front, etc.) makes it a least-likely case to assess the capacity of international norms to influence the behavior of an Islamist political actor. Furthermore, a great asset to Hezbollah is the fact that, differently from other Islamist groups, it enjoys strong and direct support from an influential state—Iran—which further shields it from the need to adapt to international normative structures.

The analysis of the case study is arranged in four instances representative of the interaction between international norms and Hezbollah. All these examples correspond to “before–after” comparative analyses. This means that each of these instances provides an assessment of Hezbollah’s political identity before and after a process in which international norms intervened over its activity. The only exception is Chapter 9, where the methodology is not process tracing or historical analysis, but a comparative analysis of two key programmatic texts released by Hezbollah at the stage of its foundation and at a later stage in 2009. Contrary to what may be expected from an Islamist movement, which relies on communitarian assumptions, these examples will show how international norms are becoming progressively constitutive of Hezbollah’s political action and ultimately challenge its conceptions of community and person.

The choice of these examples of interaction has been deliberately selective toward instances that serve the purpose of this research. The selection of these cases has been made among historical events in which international actors, such as diplomacy by foreign states and multilateral organizations like the United Nations, interacted directly or throughout third-party mediation, with Hezbollah. This happened in various circumstances in which international norms, such as the regulation and ending of inter-state conflicts (Chapters 6 and 8) and the implementation of legislation and policies consistent with human rights principles or democracy or state sovereignty (Chapters 7 and 9), became relevant.

It might be helpful to briefly consider why other relevant examples of interaction between international norms and Hezbollah are not considered in this inquiry. Hezbollah’s stance toward Palestinian refugees in Lebanon could have been another instance linking international norms and Hezbollah. Nonetheless, this issue has broader implications more closely related to Lebanese domestic politics and the number of factors involved in this issue would have made the case difficult to handle. Another interesting case is the occasional swapping of prisoners between Hezbollah and Israel, which is usually mediated and regulated by international humanitarian law. This phenomenon is, nonetheless, difficult to investigate because of its secrecy.

One particularly prominent case could have been the analysis of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in relation to Hezbollah. Nonetheless, this case would deserve an entirely separate analysis, and, at the time this research was being carried out, it was too early to have a sufficiently clear idea about how Hezbollah would relate to the STL. Furthermore, the innovative character of this international tribunal—based on a combination of domestic and international legislation—renders this case not optimal for generalizations over international norms.

There is, then, another important methodological choice to be justified. At least since 1992, Hezbollah has increasingly normalized its relationship with the Lebanese state and society. The phenomenon has been defined by several Hezbollah’s experts as the “Lebanonisation of Hezbollah”⁷ and is rightly considered one of the main trajectories (if not the main trajectory) of Hezbollah’s political identity transition. Nonetheless, the study will reflect on this phenomenon only as far as it is relevant for the scope of the analysis. As this is a study in International Relations, I have privileged the analysis of international factors over national dynamics, although, the two dimensions often overlap especially in a state like Lebanon where international powers interfere with domestic politics more than elsewhere. Whenever Hezbollah’s Lebanonization becomes relevant as correlated to its “internationalization,” this will be highlighted, but no separate discussion of this process is offered herein.

Finally, the contextual changes in the strategic and social environment in which Hezbollah operates, such as the withdrawals of Israel and Syria from Lebanese territory or changes in leadership in Iran, are influential factors in Hezbollah’s political and military activity. The discussion of these factors will be nonetheless limited and instrumental to the overall scope of the argument. For example, Hezbollah’s relations with Iran will be discussed with reference to the ideological influence of Khomeinism, whereas Hezbollah-Syria relations will be mentioned with regard to Syria’s role as international mediator in Lebanese and regional affairs, especially in the 1990s.

The last methodological point regards the gathering of relevant information and data for this research. This study relies primarily on bibliographical research, especially as regards its more theoretical considerations. In the study of Islamist political theory, the author has made an effort to refer as much as possible to original texts, rather than secondary literature in the attempt of offering a fresher interpretation of this literature.

The empirical part of the research is based on scholarly publications on historical, sociological, and International Relations, as well as on interviews and collections of documents from sources such as the Lebanese Parliament, the leaked US cables collected in WikiLeaks, UN reports, reports from specialized nongovernmental organizations, and occasional consultation with the Consultative Center for Study and Documentation. To access archives and carry out interviews, the author undertook fieldwork r...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1 Introduction: Studying the Impact of International Norms on Islamist Politics
• 2 The Western Critique of Liberalism: Communitarianism
• 3 Islamist Critiques of Liberalism: ʿAbduh, Quṭb, al-Ṣadr, and Khomeini
• 4 Islamism as Communitarianism: A Comparative Analysis
• 5 The Rise of Political Shiʿism in Lebanon
• 6 Noncombatant Immunity and Israel-Hezbollah Wars: The Case of the April Understanding
• 7 Hezbollah and Human Rights Legislation in the Lebanese Parliament
• 8 Hezbollah and UNSC Resolutions 1559 and 1701
• 9 Community, Person, and International Norms in Hezbollah’s Political Language: Comparing the 1985 Open Letter and the 2009 Political Document
• 10 Conclusions: The Impact of International Norms on Islamist Politics
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index