In this illuminating study, Robert Rabil tracks Hezbollah’s evolution from a radical militia of the 1980s into a dominant political and military actor embedded in Lebanon’s power structure. He shows how the group capitalized on Syria’s strategic weakness and Iran’s institutional support to rebrand itself as both a resistance movement and de facto governing force. The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war marked its coming-of-age, solidifying Hezbollah’s legitimacy and revealing Syria’s declining regional influence. Rabil’s nuanced analysis challenges assumptions about non-state actors and offers insight into how Hezbollah came to embody the intersection of religion, politics, and armed power in Lebanon and the broader region.