The Post Syrian Civil War image of Hezbollah: The legitimization struggle after 2011

The enhancement of the revolutionary ideology promoted by Hezbollah during the Arab Uprisings was challenged when in 2011 the protests began in the city of Deraa in Syria. Hezbollah’s support of the revolutionary nature and ideology of the opposition movements became an issue when the anti-government demonstrations began in Syria and the organization suddenly contradicted its previous posture by backing the regime.The Janus-faced behavior of the organization had an immediate negative impact on the image that Hezbollah had been building through a pragmatic and selective legitimation process. In this scenario, how does Hezbollah react to the challenges to the legitimacy of its organization?. In light of the aforementioned, this thesis will aim to analyze and identify the way in which Hezbollah justify the intervention in Syria to their support groups at the local, national and international level. This research focuses on Hezbollah’s creation of 4 meaning in the ideological discourse...Show moreThe enhancement of the revolutionary ideology promoted by Hezbollah during the Arab Uprisings was challenged when in 2011 the protests began in the city of Deraa in Syria. Hezbollah’s support of the revolutionary nature and ideology of the opposition movements became an issue when the anti-government demonstrations began in Syria and the organization suddenly contradicted its previous posture by backing the regime.The Janus-faced behavior of the organization had an immediate negative impact on the image that Hezbollah had been building through a pragmatic and selective legitimation process. In this scenario, how does Hezbollah react to the challenges to the legitimacy of its organization?. In light of the aforementioned, this thesis will aim to analyze and identify the way in which Hezbollah justify the intervention in Syria to their support groups at the local, national and international level. This research focuses on Hezbollah’s creation of 4 meaning in the ideological discourse in order to justify their actions and preserve their legitimacy at three different levels of target audiences (communal, national, international) by developing diverse context models (van Dijk, 2006, 21) according to each audience’s particular interests.Show less

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The Post Syrian Civil War image of Hezbollah: The legitimization struggle after 2011