The Role of Hezbollah - Term Paper Example

Nevertheless, Hezbollah has continued to engage in terrorist activities throughout the Middle East and currently has a militant wing of the organization that is understood as larger than that of the standing national army of Lebanon.

Yet, Hezbollah cannot be understood as a native insurgency that developed within Lebanon. Instead, it was initially begun as a response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Seeing this as an opportunity to further its influence throughout the globe, Iran developed and funded this group as a means of taking the battle directly to the Jewish state. With Iranian backing and financing, the group developed rapidly and came to serve as a fundamental voice within Lebanon and throughout the region. Hezbollah has been linked to over 36 suicide attacks and terrorist bombings since 1982 (Hamdar, 2014). Moreover, the number of targeted assassinations that Hezbollah is responsible for is something that is up for much debate; estimated to be within the hundreds or thousands. Whereas enemies for Hezbollah have come and gone (for instance the American, French, and British interests have been listed at one time or another as targets for the group), its animosity and hatred for Israel have been the one mainstay that has helped to continue to define the group throughout the years. As such, at every point in which Israel has come in direct conflict with Lebanon, Hezbollah has used this as an opportunity to drastically swell its ranks and engage in pitched and indirect warfare with Israeli forces or target Israeli interests throughout Lebanon and the greater Middle East.

More recently, the tug of war between Russia, Iran, Israel, and others over Syria has meant that Hezbollah has come to serve as a powerful supporter of Bashar al-Assad. As a function of this and subsequent indirect support from both Russia and Iran, Hezbollah has been one of the primary foreign forces that have served to bolster the strength of the Syrian regime; as it lies virtually exhausted from fighting a 3-year civil war within its borders (Saouli, 2014). With the constant influx of material and men from Lebanon, the outlook of this civil war appears to be more likely to approach that of a stalemate; rather than a definitive victory for either side shortly.

From the information that has thus far been engaged, it is apparent that Hezbollah has a powerful role throughout the Middle East and Lebanon.  Even though it is clear that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, it is also a political party, a social organization, and an Islamic unity front that engages opposition against Israel and Israeli interests throughout the Middle East.