Ahmed Rashid at PostGlobal

Ahmed Rashid

Lahore, Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore, was the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, for 22 years until the magazine was recently closed down. He presently writes for the Daily Telegraph in London, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, BBC Online, The Nation, and academic and foreign affairs journals. He appears regularly on international TV and radio stations such as CNN and BBC World Service. Close.

Ahmed Rashid

Lahore, Pakistan

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore, was the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, for 22 years until the magazine was recently closed down. more »

Main Page | Ahmed Rashid Archives | PostGlobal Archives


« Previous Post | Next Post »

Hezbollah Wont Seek Total Control

Lahore, Pakistan - Hezbollah's strength rests on the unqualified support of the Lebanese people. Hezbollah is unlikely to risk that support and plunge Lebanon into another civil war by trying to assert total political control once the war is over.

The civil war has already demonstrated that it is impossible for one ethnic or religious group in Lebanon to win total control of the state. And Lebanon has a long history of democracy and power sharing that Hezbollah has respected in recent years.

Hezbollah is unlikely to agree to any plan to disarm its fighters and that is going to create tensions for the Lebanese government and the international community. In addition, Hezbollah's example of standing up to Israel and emerging unbowed and undefeated is going to have a huge impact on authoritarian regimes across the Arab world who are already facing the anger and frustration of their peoples. At the same time, however, Hezbollah -- as an Islamist organization, albeit a Shia one -- will convince more Arabs that political Islam is the future in the Arab world.

Please e-mail PostGlobal if you'd like to receive an email notification when PostGlobal sends out a new question.

Email This Post to a Friend | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook | Email the Author

Posted by Ahmed Rashid on August 7, 2006 10:05 AM

Reader Response

ALL COMMENTS (6)
PostGlobal is an interactive conversation on global issues moderated by Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria and David Ignatius of The Washington Post. It is produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com, as is On Faith, a conversation on religion. Please send your comments, questions and suggestions for PostGlobal to Lauren Keane, its editor and producer.