The Governance of Non-State Armed Actors in Failing States: The Case of Hezbollah Cover Image

Vládnutí nestátních ozbrojených aktérů v selhávajících státech: Případ Hizballáhu
The Governance of Non-State Armed Actors in Failing States: The Case of Hezbollah

Author(s): Jan Daniel
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Ústav mezinárodních vztahů
Keywords: non-state governance; security governance; non-state armed actors; territorial authority; failing state; Hezbollah; Lebanon

Summary/Abstract: Using the case of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, the article deals with the phenomenon of the governance of non-state armed groups in failing states and the conditions for its emergence. It argues that one of the key requirements for the emergence and long-term preservation of a non-state armed group’s authority is its fulfillment of functions usually associated with the state (such as the provision of security, public goods and services and the legitimation of its authority) that the failing state is not able to provide. The study specifically shows how Hezbollah is able to substitute for or complement the Lebanese state in each of its functions and consecutively use the wide network of its governance institutions for strengthening its political authority. As a result of Hezbollah’s practices and strategies of governance, the forms of political control of the territory are being gradually changed and hybridized.

  • Issue Year: 49/2014
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 32-51
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Czech