Hezbollah and Hamas: A Comparative Study

by Joshua L. Gleis, Benedetta Berti

A concise yet comprehensive overview of Hamas and Hezbollah. Hezbollah and Hamas are major players in Middle Eastern politics and have a growing involvement in global events. Despite their strikingly different beginnings, they share a common denominator—an adversary in Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas draws from primary interviews and documents coupled with a thorough review of current scholarship. This is a portrait of the organizations’ roots, histories, ideologies, relationships, tactics, political outlooks, and futures. Joshua L. Gleis and Benedetta Berti present organization charts, maps, and a case study of the TriBorder Area in South America, which frequently serves as an operational center for terrorist groups. Recognizing that these two groups are increasingly relevant to U.S. national security, Gleis and Berti provide a comparative analysis of their histories and political missions that moves beyond reductionist portrayals of the organizations' military operations.

Genres: Middle East, History, Politics, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[John Foster iii · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very heavily anchored in a Western/Israeli perspective. Whether you label them terrorists or freedom fighters, Hezbollah and Hamas did not emerge in a vacuum and randomly choose to engage in battle with Israel. Violent reaction is born from prior violence, even when it is slow-acting and low-intensity. I believe the emergence of these groups is a natural human reaction to colonial oppression and expansion.

I think a real depth of exploration and analysis was missed in this book with regards to the history, aims and ideology of these groups and the environment they live in. I felt like I was repetitively reading the notion that these groups are just random violent gangsters who are targeting Israel because the Axis of Resistance told them to. Was really hoping for more depth, like I said.