Riley Madrian

While the U.S. State Department did not designate the Shi’a Muslim group Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization until 1997, the group had been active since the early 1980s. Based in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s first attack came in 1983 in response to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. Because Iran wanted to start a proxy war with Israel, they provided Hezbollah with ample funding and weapons. With Iran’s help, Hezbollah successfully removed the Israeli Defense Forces from Lebanon. The group published their manifesto in 1985, which stated, among other items, that American hegemony was the “source of all their catastrophes,” and their main priority is the annihilation of Israel and the expulsion of colonists, like the United States, from the Middle East.[1] This group functions in the Middle East and North Africa region and receives extensive support from Iran including missiles, military training, and more than $700 million per year.[2] Hezbollah is also an influential political party in Lebanon; in the 2018 parliamentary elections, the party won the plurality of votes, and in 2008, the party gained veto power in the cabinet.[3] This politically agile group presents many issues for the United States’ War on Terror. While Hezbollah is rightfully on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations, the United States needs to open a dialogue with Hezbollah and recognize their role as a powerful political party in Lebanon. This will help the U.S. protect its foreign policy interests in countering terrorism and maintaining political and economic stability in Lebanon.

The former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, died at 95 on September 6, 2019 in Singapore, after receiving medical treatment there.[1] Mugabe began his political career as Prime Minister in 1980; however, when Zimbabwe’s parliament amended the constitution in 1987, Mugabe was declared the executive President. This new position allowed Mugabe to dissolve parliament, declare martial law, and run for an unlimited number of terms.[2] During his time as President, Mugabe was a controversial figure. His early work focused on liberating Zimbabwe from British colonialism, imperialism, and white minority rule. He was praised as a revolutionary in the struggle for African freedom from Western powers. Two years after he assumed the presidency, the economy sustained limited growth and Mugabe implemented new clinics and schools for the disenfranchised black population.[3] However, resentment toward him and his administration grew as he began to seize land from the white population without compensation, and he refused to amend the one-party constitution. Mugabe’s government officials awarded themselves pay raises while the country’s inflation continued to soar.[4] In 2008, Mugabe lost the presidential election to the leader of the opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai; however, Mugabe refused to cede power and demanded a re-election. In the interim, Mugabe had the opposition supporters attacked and killed, until Tsvangirai withdrew from the race. This violent repression of his political opponents led many critics to labelling him a dictator.[5]

Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar began his military career by taking part in the 1969 coup that overthrew King Idris and established Muammar Qaddafi as the head of the Libyan state. Shortly thereafter, Haftar became Qaddafi’s chief of staff of the armed forces and was given control over Libya’s conflict with Chad.[1] Although loyal to Qaddafi, when Haftar and his men were captured as prisoners of war in Chad in 1987, Qaddafi repudiated him and demanded that Haftar’s soldiers be returned to Libya; however, the United States moved them to Zaire. Qaddafi’s disavowal angered Haftar and in 1988 he joined the C.I.A.-supported National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) while in Chad.[2] When the NFSL was unable to overthrow Qaddafi, the United States flew Haftar and his men to Virginia, where Haftar lived for the next 20 years while gaining U.S. citizenship.[3]

The constant tumult in Sudan is keeping the international community on its toes. After months of protesting and violence, the military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir in April of this year and established a transitional military council. The TMC declared there would be a two-year transitional period after which the state would hold elections. Pro-democracy protests continued as demonstrators called for a civilian-led transitional body, citing that the TMC was no better than the previous regime they had fought to remove. On June 3, the TMC massacred hundreds of protestors and instituted an internet black out worse than any during al-Bashir’s rule. After another mass protest on June 30, the TMC and the civilian opposition began negotiating with the help of envoys from Ethiopia and the African Union. These negotiations led to an agreement on a joint sovereign council comprised of eleven members: five military, five civilian, and an unknown eleventh member. This council would govern for three years while organizing elections. The military will rule for the first 21 months, and the civilian government will assume control for the next 18 months. On Thursday, Sudan was rocked by another military coup, an attempt that was shortly foiled by security forces. Skeptics say the coup was fabricated by the military in order to pressure the civilian opposition group into signing the deal. This constant political flux works in the military’s favor, leaving civilians at a disadvantage at the negotiating table.

Since December, the streets of Sudan have been filled with tens of thousands of peaceful protestors (Abdulbari). These demonstrations began over cuts to bread and fuel subsidies, but quickly turned to calls for the overthrow of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whose 30-year rule has been marked by a deteriorating economy, rapidly increasing inflation, and widespread corruption (“Sudan’s inflation…”). In January, security forces in Khartoum began firing tear gas, stun grenades, and live ammunition at protestors gathered at sit-ins in an attempt to quell protests (Lewis). Over 1,000 have been detained since the beginning of the demonstrations (“Sudan’s Omar…”).