Why does Hezbollah provide social services?

Résumé du document

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia movement that was created in 1982 in response to the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. In the beginning, the organization was mainly military because of the context of war at the moment of its creation; it has also become a major political player in Lebanon and has taken part in the different elections since Israel's withdrawal in 2000, in parallel to its military actions. Apart from these activities, Hezbollah has also developed a very effective welfare system to provide social services the government fails to provide to the population. It includes in particular numerous schools, orphanages, hospitals, and even services to support the economic development of the country (in priority of the Shia community) like a micro-credit service. These services are managed by NGOs that are more or less directly linked to the organization.

Extraits

[...] Moreover the people that work in these places are volunteers and share Hezbollah's ideals, so they are highly motivated. The strategic importance of urban planning in war preparation The relationship between Hezbollah and the government concerning reconstruction after the 2006 war was ambiguous. When reconstruction really began, Hezbollah blocked the governments' efforts and took charge of the operations by itself, most of the time in defiance of public regulations (like for the project). It enhanced the official projects, rehabilitated damaged roads, bridges, and rebuilt several ravaged villages and neighbourhoods. [...]

[...] Indeed Hezbollah has created a real "State in the State". Mona Harb and Reinoud Leenders underline the fact that "Hizbullah's institutions are characterized by their holistic approach: they form a network of organizations that provides a comprehensive set of policies framing diverse components of daily life". So social services could also contribute to strengthen individuals' feeling that the interest of the community is stronger than individual's particular interests, and eventually be part of someone's decision to become a militant. Finally, social services can be seen as a reward for those who participate in violence, which clearly helps to recruit new militants. [...]

[...] This is the reason why the government decided to provide education and health services to the population in order to strengthen the Third Republic. And it worked because if you benefit from an organization you become dependent it, and then you have a strong incentive in its maintenance, so your support becomes more likely. This is exactly the strategy adopted by Hezbollah in Lebanon. Such a strategy is encouraged by the absence of welfare social provision from the government. By providing social services, Hezbollah makes itself indispensable to the population. [...]

[...] As it was very-well established within the Shia community, the government requested its cooperation. During the Israeli bombardments, the organization had estimated the damages through surveys in the population, so it had much information about the situation, more than the government anyway. A Hezbollah delegate also integrated the National Commission formed to advise the Prime Minister. So after the war, the government really made Hezbollah an official actor of the reconstruction and explicitly recognized its importance in the process. But Hezbollah did not content itself with this role. [...]

[...] What is the precise role of social actions within the global Hezbollah's strategy and to what extent are social actions used by Hezbollah to achieve political and military purposes? First we will see that providing social services to the population can contribute to an electoral success; then we will focus on the military activities of Hezbollah and we will observe that social actions can also help militarily. I - Providing social services: useful in an electoral process 1. A form of clientelism Like any other political group that participate in an election, Hezbollah need to be popular to be elected. [...]