Balancing the scale. (c2019)

Abstract

Corporate consociationalism may drive actors to exploit political opportunities to consolidate their predominance. Lebanon’s corporate arrangement has provided a fertile ground for Hezbollah to expand its influence through its participation in the 2011 civil war in Syria. Hezbollah’s military engagement in the Syrian war has strained Lebanon’s communal relations, destabilizing the Lebanese balance of power. At the same time, Hezbollah’s role in the Syria has not resulted into an intra-state conflict within Lebanon as it would be anticipated. The findings of this study show how the role of Hezbollah as a challenger must be embedded in a more complex reading of Lebanon’s corporate model. This thesis sets the stage for new way of thinking on how actors behave in the context of corporate consociational dynamics, and how they draw on external crises, challenging the system’s rigid parameters.