Lebanese Hezbollah goes to great lengths to publicize its overt, social, and political activities and to conceal its covert terrorist, militant, and criminal pursuits. In the words of one operative, Hezbollah's "Golden Rule" is this: The Less You Know, the Better.
In this podcast, terrorism scholar Matthew Levitt sets out to break this rule by shining a bright spotlight on Hezbollah's global terrorist and criminal activities. Levitt has been following Lebanese Hezbollah for almost three decades in and out of government. He's written books, given expert testimony, and literally mapped Hezbollah's worldwide illicit activities in an online interactive map and timeline. (https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/hezbollahinteractivemap)
Listen as Levitt tracks Hezbollah's evolution over the years and its operations across the globe from Lebanon to Kuwait, across Europe and Asia, then on to the Western Hemisphere from Buenos Aires to New York. Along the way, he'll speak with law enforcement officers, intelligence agents, government officials, and world-class experts from around the globe, each of whom has first-person experience confronting Hezbollah and uncovering things the group would much prefer nobody ever heard about.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Lebanese Hezbollah goes to great lengths to publicize its overt, social, and political activities and to conceal its covert terrorist, militant, and criminal pursuits. In the words of one operative, Hezbollah's "Golden Rule" is this: The Less You Know, the Better.
In this podcast, terrorism scholar Matthew Levitt sets out to break this rule by shining a bright spotlight on Hezbollah's global terrorist and criminal activities. Levitt has been following Lebanese Hezbollah for almost three decades in and out of government. He's written books, given expert testimony, and literally mapped Hezbollah's worldwide illicit activities in an online interactive map and timeline. (https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/hezbollahinteractivemap)
Listen as Levitt tracks Hezbollah's evolution over the years and its operations across the globe from Lebanon to Kuwait, across Europe and Asia, then on to the Western Hemisphere from Buenos Aires to New York. Along the way, he'll speak with law enforcement officers, intelligence agents, government officials, and world-class experts from around the globe, each of whom has first-person experience confronting Hezbollah and uncovering things the group would much prefer nobody ever heard about.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
An innocent looking hit-and-run accident in downtown Bangkok in 1994 uncovered a sophisticated Hezbollah network in Thailand, an attempt to target the Israeli embassy there, and a decomposing body hidden in a vat full of chemical explosives. Two decades later, a new string of Hezbollah and Iranian-directed plots in Thailand cropped up, this time involving operatives hiding explosives in bags marked as “cat litter,” signing up for flower arrangement classes as cover for travel to Bangkok, and bulk buying bottles of nail polish remover for reasons having nothing to do with makeup.
Guests:
· Sakdawut “Josh” Smanbut, Police Colonel and superintendent in the Royal Thai Police’s Special Branch.
· Oded Ailam, former Deputy Head of Global Operations for the Mossad and Chief of Mossad’s Counterterrorism Center.
Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule is hosted by Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
It is produced by Anouk Millet from Earshot Strategies, and written by Dr. Levitt, Lauren von Thaden, and Camille Jablonski, research assistants at The Washington Institute.
Explore my map and timeline of Hezbollah’s Worldwide activities.
For a full transcript of the episode, a list of sources, recommended reading, and information on our guests, visit our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
