Since Oct. 17, unprecedented protests across Lebanon have challenged the political status quo, which has always been at an intersection of interests between the country’s ruling oligarchy and their foreign backers. Hezbollah, which is the status quo’s power broker, is facing a pivotal moment, and if it fails to adapt could potentially risk the environment that allowed the group in the past three decades to confront Israel and expand its regional activities.
The protests in traditional Hezbollah strongholds should be a cause for alarm for the group, most notably the Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon. There are two overarching factors that triggered this inevitable challenge to Hezbollah, which leaves the armed group in a series of dilemmas with a ticking clock to decide which path to take.
