Deal in Lebanon

Looks like Lebanon's political factions have reaches a deal that's okay with Hezbollah and may pave the way to relieve the atmosphere of crisis that's been gripping the country. I meant to link yesterday to an excellent point Fareed Zakaria made about Hezbollah:

Hizbullah is not like Al Qaeda, a rootless organization that engages solely in existential terrorism. It's a homegrown group with deep roots in Lebanon's Shia community. The organization was formed to oppose Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and still derives some of its appeal from that history of resistance. It's since become the voice of the Shia community, which is institutionally discriminated against in the country's power structures. (Shiites make up between 30 and 40 percent of the Lebanese population, yet are accorded only 18 percent of parliamentary seats.) Finally, Hizbullah runs an impressive network of social services, which provide health care, small loans and family support.

Right. Americans, because of our own situation, tend to look at Hezbollah primarily through the lens of its attitude toward Israel, to its attacks on U.S. troops in the early 1980s, and to its relationship with Iran. But to Lebanese Shiites, the primarily interesting thing about Hezbollah is its attitude toward Lebanon -- a country where political institutions structurally disenfranchise Shiite voters. And because political institutions disenfranchise Shiite voters, government social services are undersupplied to Shiites communities. Hezbollah both fills the void in terms of direct provision of social services, and through its lawless behavior and unwillingness to operate like a "normal" member of the Lebanese political process stands up for the interests of a community that's structurally disadvantaged by the process.

Talk of democracy in Lebanon needs to be put in this context. The pro-western, March 4 Coalition is not, for example, "pro-democracy" in the sense of favoring moves toward a fair voting system. But under the circumstances, it's hardly surprising if Lebanese Shiites decide that they don't really need democracy.