A History of Modern Libya

by Dirk Vandewalle

Dirk Vandewalle is one of only a handful of scholars who have made frequent visits to Libya over the last four decades. His formidable knowledge of the region is encapsulated in his history of Libya which was first published in 2006. The history – based on original research and interviews with Libya’s political elite – traces Libya’s history back to the 1900s with a portrait of Libya’s desert terrain, its peoples and the personalities that shaped it development. It then examines the harrowing years of the Italian occupation in the early twentieth century, through the Sanusi monarchy and, thereafter, to the revolution of 1969 and the accession of Qadhafi. The following chapters analyse the economics and politics of Qadhafi’s revolution, offering insights into the man and his ideology as reflected in his Green Book. In the wake of the civil war and Qadhafi’s demise, the time is ripe for an updated edition of the history which will cover the years from 2005 to the present. These were the years when Libya finally came in from the cold after years of political and economic isolation. The agreement to give up the weapons of mass destruction program paved the way for improved relations with the west. By this time, though, Qadhafi had lost the support of his people and, despite attempts to liberalize the economy, real structural reform proved impossible. This, as Vandewalle contends in the foreword to the new edition, coupled with tribal rivalries, regional divisions and a general lack of unity, paved the way for revolution and civil war. In an epilogue, the author reflects upon Qadhafi’s premiership, the Green Book’s stateless society and the legacy that he will leave behind.

Genres: History, Libya, Middle East, Nonfiction, Africa, Politics

294 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2006

Reviews

[Tori Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

In A History of Modern Libya, Dirk Vandewalle provides a succinct yet sweeping introduction to the history and structure of Libya. Note, this book focuses on Libya's internal formal and informal political, economic and social structures as created by the Ottoman Empire, Italy, France, Great Britain, the post-colonial Sanusi Monarchy and Muammar Qadhafi. It does not speak much to Libyan culture. While Vandewalle does discuss the effects of Libya's internal politics on its foreign policy in Africa and the wider international community, it does not describe Libyan foreign policy in much detail. Think, then, of this book as a guide to Libya's domestic environment and explanation for how that environment led to the Libyan revolution and up to 2012.

In this regard, Vandewalle does an excellent job. He first traces the history that Libya did not choose - being the subject of the Ottoman Empire, then fought over by colonial nations and, finally, having nationhood almost thrust upon it during the Cold War. The main outcome of these eras was a state united by borders and de jure agreement but with a culturally and ideologically divided populace that had neither participated in nor experienced functioning modern state institutions.

Vandewalle then examines Libya post-independence, a time dominated for four decades by Qadhafi's regime. Rather than treating Libya as a state fatalistically failed by the "resource curse", Vandewalle shows how oil was an enabler of Qadhafi's inherently unsound and contradictory political and economic policies. When compelled to change tact due to Libya's see-sawing economy (caused by an inability to regulate the economy according to oil booms and busts), constricted by international sanctions and diplomatic isolation, the patronage structure Qadhafi created would not allow for large changes without a total regime turnover.

I am pleased that Vandewalle updated the book in 2012 to include the revolution and aftermath, but was left wanting after the last chapter. Although he generally describes the limitations in Qadhafi's reforms and strained relations with the international community, he doesn't really dive into the dynamics of the revolution inside Libya, such as the rebel groups involved, the evolution of the conflict and main actors in play after Qadhafi was killed. I would have liked to know more about how the opposition groups splintered as the war continued and more about the opposition vs. Qadhafi loyalists. I would also liked to have read more about the turn of the international community against Qadhafi once the revolution began.

Despite the gaps and shortcomings mentioned, I thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot from this book. It is an excellent introduction to Libya and one necessary to understand why its state structure and institutions are as they are today. I only wish he would publish a 3rd edition to account for the last 8 years.

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a disappointing read. The book provides a good introduction to the domestic political landscape that existed under Libya's Sanussi monarch and subsequently under the revolutionary government of Muammar Gaddafi. Likewise it provides a comprehensive examination of the social and economic impacts of the revolution while highlighting in detail the importance of Libya's oil sector. The overview wasn't particularly insightful though when it came to Libya's role within larger regional politics and Gaddafi's well known external adventurism. Instead, the primary focus remained internal to Libya, which to some extent is appropriate since much of the revolution had its message tailored specifically to its internal audiences.

I would have very much enjoyed a chapter dedicated to Gaddafi's dealings with other states or even simply dedicated to the long conflict with Chad. Instead, such subjects are treated as afterthoughts when they are even included at all (as was the case with the total exclusion of Gaddafi's stationing of Libyan troops inside Sudan). Even less forgivable given the books cover art was a complete lack of a robust examination of the fall of Gaddafi from power. This was likewise treated as a complete afterthought and the book, despite its 2011 update, fails to provide the reader with a decent overview of more recent fighting which had already reached its climax by the time this edition had been released.

Even the general overview that offered good insights and information felt disjointed and at times quite repetitive. The book in places reads more like a hastily combined collection of essays / articles which contributes to problems with the flow and structuring of information.

While it is still a useful read for those seeking to break into Libya, it has thus far been my least favorite among the Cambridge modern history series, and given the large gaps in key aspects of Libyan history it is best supplemented with other works even if one only seeks a general overview of the country.

[David]

Histories of [insert country here] are always boring but this one is particularly uninspired and dull

[Antony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A decade old now, but still an excellent history of one of the world's stranger political experiments.

[Ben Ricketts · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the introduction, Vandewalle states that--though this is clearly titled "A History of Modern Libya"--it can be "more accurately described as a social and political economy study of the country."

He's right, so why not call it that? This book contains a multitude of solid information about the economic and political structures at play in Libyan history, but it leaves out so much of the human angle that I seek in historical texts. Things that warrant deep historical explanation--such as detailed accounts of Italian occupation, the events of the 1969, the actual events of the Lockerbie incident, Gaddafi's focus on women in the regime, etc.--get very little attention, and the focus is instead put on the economic impacts of these events.

No doubt the information here is important, but it is very repetitive and dry. If you want a book about Libyan economics and political system structures, check this out. But if you want a solid history of modern Libya, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. I learned a lot about Libyan conceptions of statehood (and lots of specific details about how the government worked under Idris and Gaddafi), but ultimately this book left me wanting a LOT more.

[Sami Eerola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the history of Libya and how hard is to create a state from nothing. The country was primary created in the Cold war as a place to put American military bases against the Soviets. But the monarchy led capitalism economy failed and then Gaddafi took power and tried a weird mix of authoritarian socialism and anarchism that also failed. This edition is old so it doesn't cover the Arab spring and the chaos after.

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written political history of Libya, written within a modernization-theory inspired frame that probably derives from the author's institutional connection to Daniel Lerner at Columbia University. The basic approach is to tell Libya's story as one of a "halting and incomplete transition from a traditional to a more modern society" (76). It's written, in short, from a perspective that implicitly assumes the existence of a normative developmental model that Libya has somehow divagated from, largely as a result of the pathological choice of Qaddafi to govern in a mode that was designed simultaneously to create profound dependence on the state on the part of ordinary citizens AND to prevent the emergence of any impersonal institutional infrastructure. The idea behind the first was to dismantle older political modalities and loyalties rooted in feudal and tribal arrangements, while the latter aimed to prevent the emergence of viable competitors to Qaddafi himself. In the end, of course, Qaddafi's peculiar form of governmentality failed on both counts, and post-revoluionary Libya is now struggling to figure out a system of politics rooted in something other than locality and primal loyalties. Like virtually everyone else contemplating the situation, Vandewalle dismisses the potential of Islam as a potential candidate structurating framework, but puzzles over what else it could be. Meanwhile, it seems that Libya continues to slouch somewhat listlessly toward various hyperlocal Bethlehems.

[Jasmin.M ياسمين منصور · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book gives an insight of political and economical analysis of Libya during the monarchy "Sanussi Kingdom" and Revolution 1969 "Qadhaf", both ruling powers lacked vision of the country, the identity in how & where, they will carry out the country in the next few decades. Both regimes failed to understand their own way of ruling and implementing policies and economic structures that can kick off as a great strong foundation to a successful state of Libya. From what I see so far Libya is a laboratory of political and economic experiments trying to find the right set of polices that matches the Libyan identity.