Lexington Books
Pages: 186
Trim: 6⅜ x 9
978-1-7936-0313-5 • Hardback • October 2019 • $90.00 • (£69.00)
978-1-7936-0314-2 • eBook • October 2019 • $85.50 • (£66.00)
Hilal Khashan is professor of political science at the American University of Beirut.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 A Conceptual Introduction to Shi’ite Leadership
Chapter 2 Shi’ism and the Imamate Question: Ingrained Sense of Historical Persecution
Chapter 3 Lebanese Confessional Politics and Transition to Pan-Arab and Leftist Parties
Chapter 4 The Charismatic Leadership of Musa al-Sadr and Palestinian Militarization
Chapter 5 The Galvanic Impact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran
Chapter 6 The Rise of Hizbullah and the Consolidation of its Powers
Chapter 7 The Militant Charisma of Hasan Nasrallah
Chapter 8 Hizbullah’s Foreign Ventures
Chapter 9 The New Shi’ite Psyche: Implications for Lebanon and the Region
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Khashan (political science, American Univ., Beirut) places the Lebanese political/terrorist organization Hizbullah in the contexts of Lebanese confessional politics, the Lebanese Shiʽa community and its character, and the Iranian revolution. The volume's greatest strength is the wealth of Arabic-language material cited in the copious footnotes. Khashan provides much better sourcing than is available in other books about Hizbullah, resulting in a book that is more authoritative and more specific than other accounts. Another strength is Khashan's skill at bringing to life—as individuals, not just as political figures—the two most noteworthy leaders of the Lebanese Shiʽa community, Musa al-Sadr and Hasan Nasrullah. . . . Summing Up: Recommended. . . Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
— CHOICE
In Hizbullah, Khashan of the American University of Beirut expertly unfolds the political evolution of the group. . . . For those interested in where Hezbollah came from and where it may be going, this is a book well worth reading.
— Middle East Quarterly
Khashan does it again with this daring but thoroughly researched work. His controversial conclusions are insightful and are likely to generate bountiful debate.— Jamal Nassar, Jamal R. Nassar, Dean Emeritus, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, California State University San Bernardino
Hizbullah: A Mission to Nowhere is unique in the quantity and quality of the material that it provides on the past, present, and future roles of Hizbullah in the Middle East. Professor Khashan provides vivid descriptions of Nasrallah’s spiritual and charismatic powers and the deep animosity between the Shia and Sunni Muslims that has made Hizbullah the military wing of Shia Islam in its relentless religious war against Sunni Muslims. There can be no understanding of Hizbullah and its profound impact on the Middle East without the excellent analysis of this religious conflict that Khashan so expertly and thoroughly provides.— Monte Palmer, Professor Emeritus, Forida State University, and author of The Future of the Middle East: Faith, Force, and Finance and The Arab Psyche and American Frustrations