Comments
Mark, I heartily concur. Hezbollah can't even be called a shadow government since it operates in the open. It is in effect a second government within Lebanon.
I know it is a silly analogy, but I see Hezbollah and AQ as Mao and Che. Hezbollah is taking the long war approach, staying below the threshold for action while spreading its tendrils. AQ is all flash without a hope for actual victory.
I've said this before but I feel it deserves repeating.
There's a fundamental problem with the terminology which is customarily provided in these handbooks.
The notion of state and non-state is more complex in the cases of Hezbollah and Hamas.
For reasons which should be obvious, it is more accurate to classify Hezbollah as an intra-state actor, since it encompasses an element within the government and its military is seen as legitimate by the government.
And even Hamas should be considered an element of a proto-state, since it was put into power through a democratic election. And if it is not an element of a proto-state, are we conceding the prospect of a one-state solution for Israel/Palestine?