Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society

How do the norms of the liberal international order influence the activity of Islamist movements? This book assesses the extent to which Islamist groups, which have traditionally attempted to shield their communities from 'external' moral conceptions, have been influenced by the principles that regulate international society. Through an analysis of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Filippo Dionigi concludes that international norms are significant factors changing Islamist politics. We are still far from an accomplished resolve of the tension between Islamist communitarianism and liberal normative views, but a precarious equilibrium may emerge whereby Islamists are persuaded to rethink the idea of an allegedly 'authentic' Islamic morality as opposed to the legitimacy of international norms.

This book argues that the influence of international norms on Islamist politics goes beyond the surface of occasional and instrumental norm-conformist behavior by Islamist actors. More than that, international norms instill in the discourse and agency of Islamism the elaboration of conceptions of person and community as part of international society, instead of being its outcasts. By using the case of Lebanon's Hezbollah, the author draws the attention of the reader to how this Islamist movement has become more cognizant of the moral cogency of the norms of international society. The result is a precarious but innovative balance -mediated by a process of international socialization - in which a political actor defines and re-defines its Islamist identity by rethinking the idea of an allegedly "authentic" Islamic morality and the legitimacy of international norms.

Do international norms affect the activity of Islamist movements? This book analyzes and assesses the extent to which Islamism has been affected by the rules and principles that regulate international society. It does so studying one of the most challenging cases - Hezbollah - and concludes that international norms are among the most significant factors changing Islamist politics.

Filippo Dionigi is a Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, where he was awarded a PhD in International Relations. He is specialised in international relations, Islamist politics, and Middle Eastern affairs. He is interested in the study of International Relations Theory applied to the Middle East. He has published in the Journal of International Political Theory, the European Journal of International Relations, and International Peacekeeping, and he contributes regularly to magazines and contemporary affairs publications.

1. Introduction: Studying the Impact of International Norms on Islamist Politics
2. The Western Critique of Liberalism: Communitarianism
3. Islamist Critiques of Liberalism: ?Abduh, Qu?b, al-?adr and Khomeini
4. Islamism as Communitarianism: A comparative Analysis
5. The Rise of Political Shi?ism in Lebanon
6. Non-Combatant 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