But nostalgia has led both states to misinterpret the challenges they now face, whether by linking al-Qaeda to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, or Hezbollah to Iran and Syria. This linkage does exist in the case of Hezbollah, but the networked actors have their own social roots and are not simply pawns used by regional powers.
可是怀旧情绪使得这两个国家错误地估计了目前所面临的挑战，无论是把基地组织与萨达姆·侯赛因的伊拉克连在一起，还是把真主党与伊朗和叙利亚扯到一块都是这种错误的典型表现。在涉及真主党的问题上这种联系的确存在，但网络之中的各派势力有着它们自身的社会根基，而并不单纯是被地区力量操纵的木偶。这就解释了为什么使用传统力量只能带来令人沮丧的结果。