Hezbollah’s Growing Influence on Lebanon’s Foreign Policy

Abstract

Lebanon’s foreign policy has been subjected to a variety of internal and external influences that continue to shape its focus and orientation. Among the internal influences on that policy come from Hezbollah, an armed Lebanese political party. This party has had a growing presence and involvement beyond the Lebanese territory both politically and militarily. This turned it into a key player not only domestically but also regionally and internationally. The dissertation argues that even though Hezbollah is a very influential state actor and powerful enough to have its own foreign policy agenda, this political party still has a significant interest in controlling and influencing Lebanon’s foreign policy, especially after the exit of the Syrian troops in 2005. Accordingly, the research question proposed by this dissertation is the following: why does Hezbollah still need to influence Lebanon’s foreign policy, despite all the resources, weapons, and political, legal, and regional support that it has? The thesis studies the reasons in terms of three cases where Hezbollah had a strong influence on the country’s foreign policy: the July 2006 war with Israel, the Syrian civil war, and finally, the U.S. and Arab attempts to isolate Hezbollah through the sanctions policy. Specifically, it analyzes the benefits that Hezbollah can obtain through the country’s official foreign policy.