Hezbollah

Augustus Richard Norton's book Hezbollah: A Short History attempts to provide a balanced and nuanced view of the Shiite Islamic organization. Concerned primarily with the issue of self-rule and self-determination within Lebanon -- at least at the time of its founding -- Hezbollah has come to be labeled as a terrorist organization by many world governments, and Norton critically examines this identification and the events and perspectives that have led to this conclusion. Much of what Norton describes in the book is a simple matter of fact, but his interpretation and analysis of these facts is at times somewhat controversial. This paper will examine Hezbollah: A Short History through the lens of certain critical scholars that reviewed the wor, in order to determine the general consensus (or lack thereof) that exists in the academic community regarding Hezbollah's status.

Defining Terrorism

In order to understand Norton's argument that Hezbollah not...
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