Angela Diffley is pleased to welcome Dr Filippo Dionigi, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Bristol. According to Dr. Dionigi, the central obstacle to Hezbollah’s disarmament is not simply the military capacity of the Lebanese state, but the absence of a political settlement capable of making disarmament both legitimate and sustainable. While additional funding and weapons would strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces, they will not resolve the fundamental political dilemma.