Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Constructing Security Council Resolution 1701 for Lebanon in the Shadow of the ‘War on Terror’

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13533312.2011.527502

1743-906X

Karim Makdisi,

Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts

Abstract This article argues that the 'war on terror' gave global meaning to the 2006 Israel–Lebanon war and to the construction of UN Security Council resolution 1701 that authorized the deployment of robust UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL). It uses a critical, discursive approach to argue that UN resolutions have embedded in them a particular, powerful discourse, in this case the 'war on terror'. This discourse grounded a global struggle for and against US domination of the region in a local power dispute in Lebanon between 2004 and 2008. It concludes that Israel's failure to defeat Hizbullah militarily resulted in resolution 1701 comprising two contradictory narratives that represented the battle for and against US domination, and that the subsequent battle for hegemonic articulation of this resolution weakened, rather than strengthened the Lebanese state during 2006–08, plunging Lebanon into internal strife until the signing of a national peace accord in Doha in May 2008. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their feedback. Notes Anthony H. Cordesman, Lessons of the 2006 Israeli–Hezbollah War, Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2007; Stephen Biddle and Jeffrey A. Freidman, The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy, Carlisle Barracks, PA: US Army Strategic Studies Institute, 2008. Patrick Devenny, 'Hezbollah's Strategic Threat to Israel', Middle East Quarterly, Vol.13, No.1, 2006, pp.31–8; Mehdi Khalaji, Iran's Shadow Government in Lebanon, Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2006. William K. Mooney, 'Stabilizing Lebanon: Peacekeeping or Nation-Building', Parameters, Vol.37, Autumn 2007, pp.28–41; Hitoshi Nasu, 'The Responsibility to React? Lessons from the Security Council's Response to the Southern Lebanon Crisis of 2006', International Peacekeeping, Vol.14, No.3, 2007, pp.339–52; Karim Makdisi, Timur Goksel, Hans Bastian Hauk and Stuart Reigeluth, 'UNIFIL II: Emerging and Evolving European Engagement in Lebanon and the Middle East', Paper No.76, EuroMeSCo, 2009, pp.1–39. Karim Makdisi, 'Israel's 2006 War on Lebanon: Reflections on the International Law of Force', MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.6, Summer 2006, pp.9–26; Richard Falk and Asli Bali, 'International Law at the Vanishing Point', in Nubar Hovsepian (ed.), The War on Lebanon: A Reader, Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2008, pp.208–24. John M. Hobson, The State and International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.197. Much of the literature mistakenly assumes the existence of a unitary Lebanese state that makes policy or security decisions. See Fawwaz Traboulsi, A Modern History of Lebanon, London: Pluto, 2009, which clarifies the complexity of Lebanese politics and the contested nature of the state. On the difference between 'problem-solving' and 'critical' approaches, see Michael Pugh, 'Peacekeeping and Critical Theory', International Peacekeeping, Vol.11, No.1, 2004, p.40. Charlotte Epstein, The Power of Words in International Relations: Birth of an Anti-whaling Discourse, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008, p.2. Karin M. Fierke, Critical Approaches to International Security, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007, p.93. Ibid. David Howarth, Discourse, Buckingham: Open University Press, 2000, p.9. Epstein (see n.8 above), p.10. Ibid. Ibid. Fierke (see n.9 above), p.101. Ibid., p.163. Israel's 1978 and 1982 invasions were denounced by the Security Council in numerous resolutions, as was its subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon. See, for instance, Paul Salem, 'Reflections on Lebanon's Foreign Policy', in Dierdre Collings (ed.), Peace for Lebanon? From War to Reconstruction, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1994, p.79. Barry Buzan, 'Rethinking Security after the Cold War', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.32, No.1, pp.5–28. See Mark Duffield, Global Governance and the New Wars: the Merging of Development and Security, London: Zed Books, 2001. Fawaz A. Gerges, America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests?, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp.15–16. Michael Mann, Incoherent Empire, London: Verso, 2003, p.5. See also David Hirst, Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East, New York: Nation Books, 2010, p.280. Hirst (see n.21 above), p.276. Fierke (see n.9 above), pp.134–5. CNN, 'Transcript of President Bush's address,' 21 Sept. 2001, at: www.archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript. In the memorable words of a senior Bush administration official, 'Hezbollah may be the A-team of terrorists and maybe al-Qaida is actually the B-team'. See Richard L. Armitage, 'America's Challenges in a Changed World', remarks at US Institute of Peace Conference, Washington, 5 Sept. 2002. George W. Bush, 2002 State of the Union Address. John Bolton, 'Beyond the Axis of Evil', speech to the Heritage Foundation, 6 May 2002. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, Sept. 2002 (at www.georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2002/index.html). Ibid. See, e.g., Charles Glass, 'Is Syria Next?', London Review of Book, Vol.25, No.14, 2003, pp.3–6. John R. Bolton, 'Syria's Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missile Development Programs', testimony before House International Relations Committee, Washington, 16 Sept. 2003; Cofer Black, 'Syria and Terrorism', testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, 30 Oct. 2003; William J. Burns, 'US–Syrian Relations', statement before US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, 30 Oct. 2003. William Burns testimony (see n.31 above). US Congress, 'Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act', Public Law 108–175, 12 Dec. 2003. Ibid. See also Hirst (n.21 above), pp.299–300. See Robert Dreyfuss, 'Syria in their Sights: The Neocons Plan their Next "Cakewalk"', American Conservative,16 Jan. 2006 (at: http://amconmag.com/article/2006/jan/16/00010/). UN Security Council resolution 1559, S/RES/1559, 2 Sept. 2004. Lebanon's constitution allows for a one-term presidency lasting six years. UN Security Council, S/PV.5028, 2 Sept. 2004. Resolutions passed in the 1986–2004 period dealt exclusively with routine matters related to the extension of UNIFIL's mandate. UN Security Council (see n.38 above). Ibid. Ibid. It should be noted that France under President Jacques Chirac went along with the US for two main reasons: to aid in rebuilding the Franco–American relationship following the tense stand-off during the US war on Iraq, which France opposed; and Chirac's close personal and business relationship with Rafiq Hariri, who, by 2004, needed Syria out of Lebanon to consolidate his power. In Lebanon resolution 1559 is referred to as comprising two parts: a 'French' part (calling on Syria to withdraw) and a 'US' part (calling on the disarming of Hizbullah). Nicholas Blanford's Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and its Impact on the Middle East, London: I.B. Taurus, 2008. The 'March 14' movement was named after the anti-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut on 14 March 2005. Ibid. Hasan Nasrallah, 'You Will Today Decide the Fate of your Nation and Country', public speech, 8 March 2005, in Nicholas Noe (ed.), Voice of Hezbollah: Statements of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, London: Verso, 2007, p.324. All previous UN tribunals dealt with genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. See Samar El-Masri, 'The Hariri Tribunal: Politics and International Law', Middle East Policy, Vol.14, No.3, 2008, p.83. Omar Nashabe, 'Al-Mahkama al-Khassa bi Lubnan: Ayna Takhfuq al-"'Adala?"' [The special tribunal for Lebanon: where does 'justice' fail?], Al-Adab Magazine (Beirut), April–May 2010 (at: www.adabmag.com/node/298). UN (see n.36 above). Nashabe (see n.47 above). See UN Security Council, UN doc., SC/8543, 31 Oct. 2005. 'Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004)', UN doc., S/2004/777, 1 Oct. 2004, pp.7–8. See, e.g., UN doc., S/PRST/2006/3, 23 Jan. 2006. Ibid. UN Security Council, UN doc., S/RES/1664, 2006. UN Security Council, UN doc., S/RES/1680, 2006; UN doc., SC/8723,17 May 2006. Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN, 'Lebanese Matters' (at: www.un.int/wcm/content/lang/en/pid/1716). The Middle East focus of the Clinton presidency (1992–2000) was on Iraq and the Palestinian–Israeli 'peace process'. UN doc., S/2000/731, 24 July 2000. The 'Blue Line' is the UN designation for the temporary border between Lebanon and Israel. UN doc., S/2000/1049, 31 Oct. 2000. UN doc., S/2006/26, 18 Jan. 2006. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, 'Hizbullah's Outlook in the Current Conflict: Motives, Strategies and Objectives', Policy Outlook 27, Policy Brief, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Aug. 2006, p.1. UN doc., S/2006/560, 21 July 2006, p.1. See also Makdisi (n.4 above). UN doc., S/2006/560, 21 July 2006. Chris McGreal, 'Capture of Soldiers Was "Act of War" Says Israel', The Guardian, 13 July 2006. UN, 'Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the Situation Along the Blue Line', 12 July 2006 (at: www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2136). 'Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the Middle East', 13 July 2006 (at: www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2139). Flynt Leverette quoted in Dreyfuss (see n.35 above). See John Bolton, Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations, New York: Threshold, 2007, p.395. Significantly, Israel's Foreign Ministry drew up an exit strategy on 14 July premised on the UN ending the war by implementing resolution 1559. See Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, 34 Days: Israel, Hezbollah, and the War in Lebanon, New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008, p.94. Quoted in 'Israel Blames Iran and Syria for Violence', Agence France Press, 14 July 2006. Bolton (see n.68 above). Harel and Issacharoff (see n.68 above), p.81. Ibid. Ibid., p.106. 'Secretary-General's Briefing to the Security Council on the Situation in the Middle East', 20 July 2006 (at: www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2142). David Chandler, Empire in Denial: The Politics of State-building, London: Pluto, 2006, pp.8–9. 'Secretary-General's Remarks to the International Conference on Lebanon', 26 July 2006 (at www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2150). See BBC News, 'Text: Draft UN Lebanon resolution', 5 Aug. 2006 (at: www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5249488.stm). Resolution 1701 (2006), 11 Aug. 2006. UN doc., S/PV.5511, 11 Aug. 2006, p.3. Ibid., p.6. Resolution 1701. Ibid., para.11. For more on European involvement in UNIFIL, see Makdisi et al. (n.3 above). Resolution 1701, para.12. See Karim Makdisi, 'The Flaws in the UN Resolution', CounterPunch, 14 Aug. 2006. Sheikh al-Thani, UN doc., S/PV.5511, pp.8–9. UN doc. S/PV.5511, p.19. Resolution 1701, para.18. UN doc., S/PV.5511, p.8. Resolution 1701, para.11. See Michel Nehme, 'Security Council Resolution 1701 and its Implications', in UN Resolution 1701: Horizons and Challenges (proceedings of a conference, 13 Jan. 2007, Antelias, Lebanon), Beirut: Cultural Movement and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2007, pp.36–44. See Makdisi et al. (n.3 above). All opposition cabinet members resigned following what they claimed was an unconstitutional move by the 'March 14' majority government authorizing an international tribunal to try Hariri's assassins. UN doc., S/PRST/2008/17, 22 May 2008. Ali Fayyad, 'Address of the Director of Consultation Center for Studies and Documentation and Member of Political Bureau of Hizbullah [in Arabic]', in UN Resolution 1701 (see n.91 above), p.63.