Will Hezbollah's Support for Assad Be Its Downfall?

World leaders are often obliged to walk a thin line between national interest and the projection of a state’s moral values. The Arab Spring effectively put an end to the West's balancing act as Europe and the U.S. were forced to abandon many of their long-term, authoritarian allies for the uncertainty of the democratic process, buoyed by this year’s monumental uprisings. Similarly, Middle Eastern nations spared their own revolutions are not immune; nor are the regional militant groups that have long depended on the patronage of tyrants. So when Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, in his first public appearance in more than three years, stood up in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday, it surely induced a few schaudenfreude-laced chuckles in western capitals.