Amal leader and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri talking to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah during a meeting in 2007. (Credit: Hassan Ibrahim/Pool/AFP)
It was May 7, 2008. Hezbollah and its allies stormed West Beirut, forcing the government of then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to reverse decisions, notably regarding the party’s telecommunications network.This moment marked a watershed in Lebanese politics: the Shiite leadership tandem of then-Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri emerged as the nation’s dominant power brokers.The Doha Agreement, signed on May 21, 2008, to stave off civil war, effectively granted them veto power. Through a blend of patronage and intimidation, Nasrallah and Berri have since consolidated a near-monopoly on representing the Shiite community, which had long been marginalized.This “political Shiism” rose from the ashes of a different era, spanning from the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990 until the 2005...
It was May 7, 2008. Hezbollah and its allies stormed West Beirut, forcing the government of then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to reverse decisions, notably regarding the party’s telecommunications network.This moment marked a watershed in Lebanese politics: the Shiite leadership tandem of then-Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri emerged as the nation’s dominant power brokers.The Doha Agreement, signed on May 21, 2008, to stave off civil war, effectively granted them veto power. Through a blend of patronage and intimidation, Nasrallah and Berri have since consolidated a near-monopoly on representing the Shiite community, which had long been marginalized.This “political Shiism” rose from the ashes of a different era, spanning from the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990 until the 2005...
