The Islamic state and Jabhat Al-Nusra; new actors in Lebanon? - Javier Lion Bustillo - The Islamic state and Jabhat Al-Nusra; new actors in Lebanon? - Javier Lion Bustillo

REVISTA IEEE 9

293 JOURNAL OF THE SPANISH INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES Javier Lion Bustillo Professor, Department of History of Political Thought and Social Movements of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. E-mail: flion@ucm.es THE ISLAMIC STATE AND JABHAT AL-NUSRA; NEW ACTORS IN LEBANON? Abstract From a historical perspective, Lebanon’s social context has long been conducive to the emergence and development of Sunni jihadism, but the movement was too weak to challenge the status quo. However, the Syrian Civil War has changed the balance of power, putting Hezbo-llah on the defensive and weakening the Future Movement´s Sunni leadership. This has allowed the Lebanese jihadists to cooperate with the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, who see the Lebanese crisis as an extension of the Syrian war. As a result, they are playing an increa-singly prominent role in the neighbouring country in a bid to spread violence and overstretch the military capabilities of the Lebanese army and Hezbollah. Keywords Jihadism, Lebanon, Sunni, Islamic State, Jabhat Al-Nusra, Hezbollah, Future Movement, Syrian Civil War. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee


REVISTA IEEE 9
To see the actual publication please follow the link above