For thirty years, Hezbollah has played a pivotal role in Lebanese and global politics. That visibility has invited Hezbollah s lionization and vilification by outside observers, and at the same time has prevented a clear-eyed view of Hezbollah s place in the history of the Middle East and its future course of action. Dominique Avon and Anais-Trissa Khatchadourian provide here a nonpartisan account which offers insights into Hezbollah that Western media have missed or misunderstood.

Now part of the Lebanese government, Hezbollah nevertheless remains in tension with both the...