By Murad Sadygzade, President of the Middle East Studies Center, Visiting Lecturer, HSE University (Moscow).
Submission statement: The author goes over the history of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, something many westerners including myself may find enlightening as I previously knew fairly little about him other than he resisted the west. It contrasts Libya under him to Libya now, noting the horrendous decline in living standards. It touches on the color revolutions of the Arab spring and how this one in particular destroyed a thriving country with good living standards for its people. It’s not the most thorough of coverage on the color revolution itself and doesn’t get that into the exact causes and what groups were hijacked but as a broad overview and update on the current situation as well as history it’s very useful for westerners.
Thirteen years ago, the NATO operation against Libya demolished one of the most well-off African nations
Once one of the leading and most economically prosperous countries in North Africa, Libya has today become a hotbed of instability and destruction. This country is yet another victim of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’.
In January 2011, the first riots began, the day after the news of the flight of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from his own country became known. The first protests hit the Libyan cities of Benghazi, Derna, and Al-Bayda. The discontent was caused by excessively long construction times for housing. Protesters began to seize unfinished houses, attack contractor offices and municipalities.
Indeed, there were problems with construction times. Immediately after the start of the protests, then leader Muammar Gaddafi condemned the rallies, but at the same time noted that the construction times for housing had been delayed and promised to punish the perpetrators. On January 27, Reuters reported that the Libyan government had set up a $24 billion fund “to provide housing for the population.”
The well-known British publicist of Pakistani origin, Tariq Ali, in his article ‘The Origins of the Libyan Uprising’ for The Guardian, noted that “the causes of the Libyan uprising are not poverty or corruption, they lie in any plane other than economic and social.” Indeed, there were no acute socio-economic problems in Libya at that time. Although there were difficulties with the protracted deadlines for the delivery of housing, two-thirds of the costs of buying housing were covered by the state, and only one-third fell on the buyers of apartments.
The citizens of the Jamahiriya (‘state of the masses’, a term coined by Gaddafi and used in the official name of the Libyan state) were well-fed and comfortable from an economic point of view, compared to other less-developed countries in the region and beyond. According to data for 2010, GDP growth in Libya was more than 2.5%. The economy showed sustainable economic and social development. Libya ranked 53rd in the UN Human Development Index, ahead of Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia at that time. Life expectancy was an average of 74 years, and medicine and education, including education for citizens in foreign universities, were free. There were certainly problems with unemployment, but it was decreasing – from 28% in 2005 to 19% in 2009.
However, on February 17, 2011, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1973, which imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and authorized the use of force to “protect civilians.” In fact, this was a green light for NATO intervention, which began on March 19. As a result, the country was plunged into a bloody civil war.
Gaddafi was killed in October 2011, but this did not bring peace to Libya. Instead, the country was plunged into chaos and fragmentation. Power was seized by various armed groups, including Islamist militias. The country has been plagued by violence, instability and lawlessness ever since.
The economy was devastated. The oil industry, which used to be the backbone of the Libyan economy, was severely damaged. GDP fell sharply, and unemployment rose to catastrophic levels. The standard of living also plummeted. Many Libyans are now living in poverty and lack access to basic necessities such as food, water and electricity. The ‘democratization’ of Libya has turned out to be a disaster. The country has been destroyed, and its people are suffering.
‘King of Kings of Africa’: Who was Muammar Gaddafi and why was he controversial?
Muammar Gaddafi, a polarizing figure in world politics, rose from relative obscurity to become the de facto leader of Libya for over four decades. His path to power is a story of ambition, ideology, and revolution, deeply intertwined with Libya’s quest for self-determination and sovereignty in the post-colonial era.
The leader of the Jamahiriya was born on June 7, 1942, in a Bedouin tent near the city of Sirte. At the time, the country was under Italian colonial rule, which lasted until the end of World War II. Libya was then under British and French military administration until it gained independence in 1951 under King Idris I. Gaddafi’s early life was marked by the nationalist fervor sweeping Africa and the Arab world, as countries struggled for independence from colonial rule.
Gaddafi’s path to power began in the military. In 1961, he joined the Royal Military Academy in Benghazi, where he was influenced by the wave of Arab nationalism and the ideas of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Disillusioned with the monarchy’s pro-Western stance and its failure to promote Arab unity and address social and economic inequality, Gaddafi and a group of like-minded officers formed the Libyan branch of the Free Officers Movement.
Gaddafi’s vision for Libya was outlined in his ‘Green Book’, which combined elements of socialism and Islam with a strong emphasis on direct democracy through people’s committees and congresses. His work is often cited as an example of non-Western political theory. Economically, he nationalized the oil industry, allowing Libya to gain control of its main resource and significantly increase its revenue. This wealth was used to develop infrastructure, education, and healthcare, which greatly improved the quality of life for many Libyans.
On the international stage, Gaddafi sought to position Libya as a leader in the fight against imperialism and Zionism, supporting various liberation movements around the world.
Fully story and analysis via the link (little less than half excerpted here)