Hizbullah: A Phenomenon of the Transformation of Terrorist Movement into Political Party

The thesis follows the political development of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah from its radical beginnings in the 80th, through the first political success in the early years of the 90th, to the contemporary situation. Hezbollah is an example of absolutely phenomenal transformation to the politically powerful entity with its own political party and significant power, which was often stronger than a real power of Lebanese government. The aim of the paper is to highlight the dynamic process of transformation of terrorist movement into a political party. The process is operationalized at two levels than. The analysis follows the external nature of the Lebanese political system allowing the transformation of Hezbollah; the interior follows the development of participation of Hezbollah. The process of transformation is depicted not only during key parliamentary elections in 1992, but also in the context of subsequent political developments, which resulted in a dominant position of Hezbollah in the Lebanese government. The text also embedded Hezbollah to the overall context of the Shia fundamentalist movements and the author tries to provide the potential outlines for its further development. The author also believes that the conclusions of the work can enrich the overall outlook on Lebanese Hezbollah and..