Thesis Submission Date

Spring 2012

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

International Relations

Reader 1

P. Edward Haley

Rights Information

© 2012 Sarah A. Fenn

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

While the Middle East remains in a point of uncertain transition, the case of Lebanon’s Hezbollah is intriguing. Maintaining a strong political influence and a well-armed, well-trained militia, Hezbollah presents a foreign policy quagmire. Responsible for numerous attacks on Americans in the 1980s as well as playing a violent role in many civil clashes, Hezbollah, through Iran's funding, provides infrastructure that the Lebanese government is both unwilling and unable to offer. Their jihad with Israel has had enormous costs, but the organization has provided the only consistent force in the region with the power to defeat Israel. The United States government has designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) for almost fifteen years. This paper seeks to analyze the unique characteristics of the Hezbollah organization, ideology and history that serve as justification of the inclusion in the FTO list according to the United States' legal definition of terrorism. Despite many flaws in the definition of terrorism and the issues with the consequences of the designation, Hezbollah gives the United States considerable reason to be cautious.


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