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Palgrave Macmillan

Hizb'Allah in Lebanon

The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis

  • Book
  • © 1997

Overview

Authors:
  1. Magnus Ranstorp

    1. Department of International Relations, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Introduction

    • Magnus Ranstorp
    Pages 1-24

  3. Background to the Formation of the Hizb’allah in Lebanon

    • Magnus Ranstorp
    Pages 25-59

  4. Hizb’allah and the Hostage-crisis Within Lebanon

    • Magnus Ranstorp
    Pages 60-109

  5. The Influence of the Iranian-Syrian Relationship On the Hizb’ allah

    • Magnus Ranstorp
    Pages 110-133

  6. Western Responses to the Hostage-Crisis and Crisis-Management

    • Magnus Ranstorp
    Pages 134-177

  7. Conclusions

    • Magnus Ranstorp
    Pages 178-206

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 207-257
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Keywords

About this book

The abduction of Western citizens by Hizb'Allah was motivated either by internal organisational requirements or in alignment with Syrian and Iranian interests, and mechanisms for the resolution of the hostage-crisis were subject to continuous interaction between Hizb'Allah, Iran, and Syria influenced by internal Lebanese, regional, and international events. The Western responses to the hostage-crisis showed limited effectiveness as the crisis management techniques were poorly adjusted in timing and direction to the actual crisis environment. With the exception of the French response, the overall employment of Western crisis management techniques showed disregard for the opportunities and constraints in the fluctuating relationship between Syria and Iran as well as the political environment within Lebanon which the Hizb'allah operates and exists. This was clear by their failure to rely on either Iran or Syria as the only channel in negotiations over hostages without regard to their individual ability to exert its influence over the Lebanese movement in accordance with shifts in their ties to Hizb'allah's command leadership between 1987-1991 and to the status of the Iranian-Syrian relationship over time, as displayed by the friction between 1986-92. This study provides a new approach in the study of terrorism by merging a case-study of the dynamics of the Lebanese hostage-crisis with an evaluation of Western responses through crisis management techniques in order to more closely resolve the dilemma of the fulfilment of these states' duty to protect their citizens taken hostage abroad, without major sacrifices in the conduct of foreign policy.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of International Relations, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK

    Magnus Ranstorp

About the author

MAGNUS RANSTORP

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