Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God, Updated Edition

by Matthew Levitt

Overview

This book remains the most thorough examination of Hezbollah's covert activities outside Lebanon—with a new preface and epilogue that examine recent developments

Hezbollah—which translates as "Party of God"—is a multifaceted organization: It is a powerful political party in Lebanon, a Shia Islam religious and social movement, Lebanon's largest militia, a close ally of Iran and Hamas, and a terrorist organization.

Drawing on a wide range of sources—including declassified government documents, court records, and personal interviews with intelligence and law enforcement officials around the world—Hezbollah examines the party's beginnings, its first violent forays into Lebanon, and its subsequent terrorist activities and criminal enterprises worldwide. The book describes Hezbollah's ongoing role in Iran's shadow war with Israel and the West. This updated edition includes a new preface and a substantive epilogue by the author to update readers on Hezbollah's activities in recent years, particularly in supporting the Assad regime in Syria's civil war and the latest cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel since October 7, 2023.

Levitt shows that Hezbollah's willingness to use violence both at home and abroad, its global reach, and its proxy–patron relationship with Iran remain serious international concerns. This is an important book for scholars, policymakers, students, and the members of the general public who are interested in international security, terrorism, international criminal organizations, and Middle East studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647125325
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2024
Edition description:	2nd Updated ed.
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	6.07(w) x 8.98(h) x 1.21(d)

About the Author

Matthew Levitt, PhD, is the Fromer-Wexler Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy where he directs the Institute's Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and previously served in various U.S. government positions at the Treasury and State Departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is the author of Hamas (2006) and Negotiating Under Fire (2008).

Table of Contents

Preface to the Updated Edition (2024)
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Researching Hezbollah's Clandestine Activities
Chapter One: The Party of God is Born
Chapter Two: Branching Out: Hezbollah Targets Westerners in Lebanon and Beyond
Chapter Three: Hezbollah's European Debut
Chapter Four: Bombings in Buenos Aries
Chapter Five: A Near Miss in Bangkok
Chapter Six: Beirut to the Blue Ridge—Hezbollah Comes to North America
Chapter Seven: Bombing Khobar Towers
Chapter Eight: Unit 1800—Targeting the Israeli Heartland
Chapter Nine: Finance and Logistics in Africa
Chapter Ten: Unit 3800—Hezbollah in Iraq
Chapter Eleven: Party of Fraud—Hezbollah's Criminal Enterprise in America
Chapter Twelve: Shadow War
Afterword (2015)
Epilogue to the Updated Paperback Edition (2024)
About the Author
Index

What People are Saying About This

Richard Barrett

Matthew Levitt has made a significant contribution to public understanding of Hezbollah's worldwide operations. He has shone a bright light into some of the darkest corners of the group's activities overseas.

Magnus Ranstrop

This book on Lebanese Hezbollah is a unique incisive insight into its global terror tentacles around the globe. Noone has cataloged these terrorist connections and plots in such forensic detail as Matthew Levitt, especially how the terror nexus between Hezbollah and Iran has continually evolved. It systematically lays bare Hezbollah's operational capability and its multiple intersections with Iranian intelligence architecture. This should be required reading for every intelligence analyst and terrorism researcher.

Al-Ahram Weekly - Andy Liepman

In Hezbollah, Matthew Levitt, through adept storytelling and impressive attention to historical detail, manages to teach even long-time students of the Middle East a great deal about Hezbollah. The book leaves little doubt as to the increasing importance, danger, and international reach of Hezbollah. It will be an important resource for serious scholars of the Middle East and a great read for anyone interested in better understanding the region.

Ambassador Dennis Ross

Richard Armitage, then Deputy Secretary of State, once described Hezbollah as the 'A team' of international terror. In his extraordinary new book, Matthew Levitt explains why Hezbollah is seen as such a global threat. Levitt paints a compelling picture of Hezbollah's terror activities not just in the Middle East but throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. While Western intelligence and law enforcement agencies have tracked and disrupted Hezbollah's global activities for years, this highly unsettling story has been largely unknown to wider publics. Thanks to Levitt's meticulous and well-written book that should no longer be the case.

Juan Zarate

Matthew Levitt has laid out a timely and relevant history of Hezbollah, a global terrorist organization often referred to as the 'A Team' of terror. This book comes at the right time as Hezbollah continues its decades-long war against the United States, Israel, and our allies around the globe while it attempts to consolidate political power in Lebanon—on its behalf and for the Iranian regime.

From the Publisher

"This book tells the sinister story of a highly sophisticated organization that for more than thirty years has been an archetype of world-wide illicit activities. Hezbollah effectively combines its overt social and political activities with covert criminal and terrorist operations on a global scale. Matthew Levitt's painstaking collection of a rich array of data provides uncomfortable evidence of 'The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God'. This book is essential reading for policy-makers and the international intelligence community."—Uri Rosenthal, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands

Daniel Byman

Hezbollah is perhaps the world's most capable group. Terrorism expert Matthew Levitt offers a comprehensive and fascinating assessment of Hezbollah's network outside the Lebanese theater, exposing its operations and fundraising apparatus in Asia, Latin America, Europe, and even the United States.

Uri Rosenthal

This book tells the sinister story of a highly sophisticated organization that for more than thirty years has been an archetype of world-wide illicit activities. Hezbollah effectively combines its overt social and political activities with covert criminal and terrorist operations on a global scale. Matthew Levitt's painstaking collection of a rich array of data provides uncomfortable evidence of 'The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God'. This book is essential reading for policy-makers and the international intelligence community.

Franco Frattini

Matthew Levitt's book touches a key point of the growing debate on Hezbollah: the European approach to the phenomenon. It is a reminder for us Europeans that there are threats that might seem distant geographically, but could nevertheless have a strong impact politically on the continent as well.

Charles Allen

Matthew Levitt is a recognized authority on Hezbollah and its activities, both in the Levant and globally. . . . Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God fills a vital gap in understanding the international dimensions of Hezbollah, its reach, and its capacities for terrorism worldwide.

Al-Ahram Weekly

"In Hezbollah, Matthew Levitt, through adept storytelling and impressive attention to historical detail, manages to teach even long-time students of the Middle East a great deal about Hezbollah. The book leaves little doubt as to the increasing importance, danger, and international reach of Hezbollah. It will be an important resource for serious scholars of the Middle East and a great read for anyone interested in better understanding the region."—Andy Liepman, Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation; former Principal Deputy Director, National Counterterrorism Center

Editorial Reviews

[H]is work is grounded in recently declassified government documents, intelligence reports, court papers, and firsthand accounts....The book is also a highly readable page-turner.

Jerusalem Post