Why Libya Isn’t a Model for Syria
This is a contribution to ‘What Should the United States Do About Syria?: A TNR Symposium.’ READ MORE >>
After Qaddafi
The city of Tawargha is the only Libyan coastal town completely populated by blacks, the descendants of the slaves who were once trafficked through the Islamic world. Libya’s blacks have long endured discrimination, but, during the revolution that swept Muammar Qaddafi from power, the residents of Tawargha acquired a new unpopularity—because they fought on the side of the fallen leader. READ MORE >>
The Sad Saga of Saif the Reformer, as Told by His Right-Hand Man
Libya Dispatch: Qaddafi Loyalists Won't Be Surrendering Anytime Soon
Outside the city of Tarhuna, amidst sprawling power lines and rumbling dump trucks, about fifty Libyan rebels are sitting on straw mats nibbling on tuna and smoking cheap cigarettes in a half-completed house. They are biding their time as their commanders negotiate with forces loyal to former leader Muammar al-Qaddafi in the city of Bani Walid some forty miles away. But there is little indication that the loyalists are going to surrender anytime soon. READ MORE >>
Tripoli—“I love them,” says Fawziyya Tarablusi about Libya’s National Transitional Council. But when asked to name her favorite member of the country’s new leadership, Tarablusi, an English teacher, drew a blank. She could identify only two of its members and knew nothing substantive about the people she effusively praised just moments earlier. READ MORE >>
Why Are Qaddafi’s Backers Refusing To Surrender? An Exclusive Look at the Career of a Top Lieutenant
Tripoli—Just outside the Libyan capital of Tripoli among the palm trees and sand dunes of the town of Tajura, rebels are still actively searching for the chief aides of former dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi. Along the way, they are discovering more about why Libya's remaining pro-Qaddafi networks have proven so resilient. READ MORE >>
Letter From Libya: The Rebel Fleet Prepares For Its Final Battle
Off the coast of Misrata—On the dark blue sea of the Mediterranean, Libyan rebels are planning their final offensive to bring down Muammar Qaddafi. More than a hundred fighters set out from Benghazi Tuesday, transforming two tugboats into the official rebel fleet. READ MORE >>
The Libyan people are right to celebrate as their country’s benighted Muammar Qaddafi era comes to a definitive close, but the country’s new leadership should also not forget that its work is just beginning. Building a new political order will be difficult, not least because Libyan political culture is notoriously underdeveloped, with only the barest history of civic engagement. READ MORE >>
