Bombs and Ballots : Governance by Islamist Terrorist and Guerrilla Groups

Using Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine and the Mahdi Army in Iraq as primary case studies, Krista Wiegand skilfully reveals why these groups have become involved in governance, how mainstream governments accept or reject such groups, and how some terrorist groups and militias govern certain territories that are not under mainstream government control.

Eventually, most terrorist and guerrilla groups are defeated by governments or they gradually die off and sometimes become political parties, democratically participating in the non-violent governance of their states. Yet other terrorist and guerrilla groups still maintain military capabilities, using both violence and democratic participation simultaneously to achieve their political goals.

In this book Krista E. Wiegand examines the different political strategies that Islamist terrorist and guerrilla groups use to achieve their political objectives. Focusing on Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine as primary case studies, Wiegand skillfully reveals the factors that determine why Islamist militant groups become involved in governance as political parties, how mainstream governments accept or do not accept them in terms of legitimacy, why other groups like al-Gama''a al-Islamiya in Egypt renounce violence and become former terrorist and guerrilla groups, and the ability of some groups to govern and simultaneously use political violence to achieve their objectives.

Bombs and Ballots is a valuable contribution to the study of state-society relations in the Middle East, exposing the blurred line between terrorist activity and governance.

In this engaging and meticulously researched book, Wiegand sheds light on two critical themes in the study of Middle Eastern countries and the Larger Muslim world: democratic reform and political violence. Showing movements like Hamas and Hezbollah to be complex, rational actors that strategically blend their use of violent and non-violent tactics, Wiegand moves the discussion beyond its too limited characterization of Middle Eastern political actors as either violent radicals or peaceful reformers. A useful tool for students, scholars and members of the policy community alike.---James A. Piazza, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA