"The important study [title] offers a revolutionary new perspective on the political phenomenon of Hizbullah whose evolution has frequently confounded scholars and politicians. Drawing on his unparalleled access to primary sources, Alagha has produced a unique work which traces all the shifts in Hizbullah's construction and reconstruction of its identity."--Publisher's site.

Of the many Islamist groups that have emerged within the Muslim world over the last two decades, perhaps none has had so great an impact on Middle Eastern and International affairs as Hizbullah, the Party of God. This group of mainly Lebanese Shìte Muslims gained both infamy and fame by its resort to militancy mixed with political pragmatism in the pursuit of its goals. The oscillation between these two extremes has left most scholars and policymakers perplexed. This book serves as a pathway for understanding not only Hizbullah but also for other Islamist groups and their challenges to contemporary politics. Hamzeh examines the Hizbullah of Lebanon through a structural analysis using original and archival sources. Based on a constructed theoretical framework from a number of theories on crisis conditions, leadership, political parties and guerrilla warfare, In the Path of Hizbullah stands alone in its qualitative and quantitative treatment of one of the most complex contemporary Islamist organizations and provides a view of the party's future.

Analyses of the political and ideological transformation of Hizbullah.

Compilation and translation into English of the original primary documents in Arabic.

Among all the authors on the Hezbollah, you are the deepest and most complex one. I am enjoying reading you a lot and find that finally, serious and long-lasting academic work is being done on the party. Victoria Fontan Associate Professor, University for Peace. Hizbullah's identity construction is an intelligent contribution to the academic debate on the dynamics of change in the political identity of Islamist movements; a process which is far from being concluded. Alagha's reliance on a robust empirical basis and his analysis also of the most recent events make this study a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. Filippo Dionigi London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. International Affairs 87.5 (September 2011): 1262-1264. Alagha offers a nuanced and sophisticated look at how Hizbullah's ideology and political tactics have evolved. His work sheds light on an important, but to Western audiences mysterious and opaque, political force in Lebanon. Daniel Byman Director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program and the Center for Peace and Security Studies and Professor at the School of Foreign Service.

This study analyses Kurdish Hizbullah as a social movement, charting Hizbullah's development from its origins in violent militancy to its move towards a more ambiguous 'civic' mode of engagement.Mehmet Kurt explores Hizbullah in Turkey's many paradoxes: notably its political rise and the apparent power of Islamism in a region in which leftist Kurdish political movements dominate political discourse; and its composition, which in its Sunni and Kurdish makeup, differs from the Shiite Hizbullah in Lebanon.Through his unique position as an anthropologist, theorist and former Imam, Kurt produces a work of extraordinary insight: an ethnography comprised of extensive interviews with leaders, members and supporters of Hizbullah, revealing the manner in which Islamic civil society has taken root in a region where ethnic identity has been the primary organising tool against a repressive and violent state.

Annotation By providing a new framework for understanding Shi'ite national politics in Lebanon, Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr recasts the relationship between religion and nationalism in the Middle East

An analysis of the Hezbollah terrorist organization offers insight into the guerrilla forces and controversial military prowess that render them a more formidable group than al Qaeda, tracing their role in forcing Israel out of occupied Arab territories, their complicated relationship with Iran and what the Western world should understand about their operations.