Foreign Affairs Focus: Libya After Qaddafi With Dirk Vandewalle
Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman interviews Dartmouth College Professor Dirk Vandwalle on post-Qaddafi Libya, the ramifications of the Benghazi attack, and the lingering problem of rogue militias.
Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman interviews Dartmouth College Professor Dirk Vandwalle on post-Qaddafi Libya, the ramifications of the Benghazi attack, and the lingering problem of rogue militias. Vandewalle discusses the surprising success of Libya's nascent democracy, its progress in establishing new political institutions, and the country's continuing challenges, while stressing the need for U.S. engagement in North Africa.
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In light of the killing of the U.S. ambassador, it’s tempting to be pessimistic about Libya. But just a year after the fall of a long-standing tyrant, the country is moving on and has peacefully elected a new government. As it turns out, building a functioning state from scratch can be a good thing.
For decades, the outsized personality of Muammar al-Qaddafi has obscured the many rivalries among Libya's domestic groups, from the tribes to the military. With the Qaddafi era coming to a likely end, how will these actors now vie for supremacy?
This article appears in the Foreign Affairs/CFR eBook, The New Arab Revolt.
The Libyan opposition based in Benghazi is just the latest in a long history of rebel governments, from the U.S. Confederacy to the recently victorious opposition in Ivory Coast. Is it time for the international community to rethink the process of recognizing such de facto states?
