Insurgency, Proxy, and Dependence: How Hezbollah's Ideology Prevails Over its Interest in its Relationship with Iran
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020231175679 |
| Author | Massaab Al-Aloosy |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
Insurgency, Proxy, and
Dependence: How
Hezbollah’s Ideology Prevails
Over its Interest in its
Relationship with Iran
Massaab Al-Aloosy
The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
Patron states provide their proxies with support for a variety of reasons. To better under-
stand the relationship between states and their proxies, it is important to deconstruct the
different means of support. For instance, even after an armed group gains economic and
military autonomy, ideological affiliation can be an important factor. The ideological con-
victions of individuals within an armed groupserveasacompassfortheactionsofthe
larger group, especially in relations to the patron state. This is the case with Hezbollah.
Today, the group has outgrown its dependence on Iran for military and economic sup-
port; nevertheless, it remains committed to the ideals of Iran’s revolution.
Keywords
Iran, Hezbollah, ideology, proxy, insurgency, terrorism
From the onset of the Cold War onwards, states increasingly have depended on non-
state armed groups. States have delegated many tasks to non-state armed groups to
support goals such as regime change and territorial secession, yet the success or
failure of armed insurgencies varies greatly, and very few groups have been able to
Corresponding author:
Massaab Al-Aloosy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts,
USA.
Email: massaab.aloosy@gmail.com
Scholarly Essay
International Journal
2023, Vol. 78(1-2) 24–40
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00207020231175679
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survive for a long period nor increase their power and influence while remaining
outside the confines of the state. As such, insurgencies can develop their own auton-
omous sphere without necessarily detaching from the patron state. While scholars
have researched the dependence of insurgencies on a patron state, they have not inves-
tigated the different types of dependencies and their significance on both the patron and
the agent. This research points to a gap in the literature regarding the types of depen-
dencies the insurgencies have on the patron state and how ideological affiliation is one
of the most important components of this relationship.
The case at hand is Hezbollah and its relationship with Iran. While the relationship has
outgrown the patron-proxy dynamic, it nevertheless maintains an ideological connection.
Hezbollah has existed for decades and will remain a player in the Middle Eastern scene
for the foreseeable future, with many transformations occurring within its socioeconomic,
political, and military spheres. Today, the group obtains funding not only from within
Lebanon but also from legal and illegal independent businesses from abroad. Militarily
speaking, Hezbollah created a model that it is exporting to other countries such as Iraq,
Syria, and Yemen. However, Hezbollah has not changed its ideological support of the
concept of velayet-e faqih. Despite Hezbollah’s growing military, economic, and social
power, it has not severed the ideological connection it shares with Iran. Indeed, Hezbollah
has been very pragmatic in dealing with its environment,which is evident in its fightingcapa-
bilities against Israel and its political power within the Lebanese political system.
Varying dependencies
Insurgencies have played an increasingly important role on the international scene
since the end of the Cold War. From Asia to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East,
states have continued to support rebel movements with tremendous impact. In the
post-Cold War environment, out of 74 insurgencies, state support “played a major
role in initiating, sustaining, bringing to victory, or otherwise assisting forty-four of
them,”
1
and the number of states adopting this tactic is on the rise. Another study indi-
cates that 87 insurgencies in 38 countries were active after 2008, and state support for
insurgents was present in 32 of these countries, which is a clear indication of the high
frequency of outside support.
2
More than half of the data collected by researchers
shows that since 1945, rebel groups have conducted operations in other countries,
and foreign support as well as geographic contingency gives an incentive for war.
3
1. Daniel Byman, Peter Chalk, Bruce Hoffman, William Rosenau, and David Brannan, “Trends in outside
support for insurgent movements,”Monograph report, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, 2001, https://
doi.org/10.7249/MR1405 (accessed 17 March 2023).
2. Daniel Byman, “Outside support for insurgent movements,”Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 36, no. 12
(2013): 981–1004.
3. Idean Salehyan, “No shelter here: Rebel sanctuaries and international conflict,”The Journal of Politics 70,
no. 1 (2008): 54–66.
Al-Aloosy 25
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