Qaddafi and the Libyan Revolution; The Making of a Pariah State: The Adventurist Policies of Muammar Qaddafi

The exploits of Qaddafi continue to attract writers in search of good copy and readers looking for excitement, although the resulting books have not had much to add by way of interpretation to what John Cooley covered in his Libyan Sandstorm (noted in Foreign Affairs, Winter 1982/83). The biography by Blundy and Lycett is not a full "life and times" and does not dig very deeply into the Libyan environment that produced Qaddafi. Where they clearly enjoy their task is in the investigation of Qaddafi's use of terrorism to confound or destroy his enemies, particularly the "stray dogs," his Libyan opponents living in foreign countries. The Making of A Pariah State is a kind of primer of Libyan history and politics, giving the essential facts in skeletal form and drawing the customary unflattering portrait of Qaddafi. The author, a former U.S. official, regards Qaddafi as a danger underestimated by the West and urges Washington openly to support an alternative leadership in Libya.