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Title: A History of Modern Libya
ISBN: 0521615542
Author:
Dirk Vandewalle
Publicate Date: 2006-02-13
Publish: 2006-02-13
List Price: $28.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.99
Amazon Merchant Price: $26.09
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Libya as of today.
I thought the book would give a modern view of customs ,geography and archytecture of this country but it was'nt like this.Instead the political history is presented which by the way is written very well.
I know quite a lot of this history as Libya was my second home for years but I feel a bit neglected when the book tells nothing about the people of this region.
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2: Libya Is Back
Libya has recently emerged from its diplomatic and economic isolation. It has settled its scores with the European Union and with the US. After some half-hearted attempts to liberalize its economy, it has now embarked in a genuine program of economic reforms, recruiting world experts to help in the effort.
These international experts will be well inspired to read and meditate Dirk Vandewalle's History of Modern Libya. If only to learn the lessons from their predecessors: from its independence in 1951 to the end of the Sanusi monarchy in 1969, the country benefited from a wealth of advisory reports, background studies, and strategic plans originating from international financial agencies. At first, these reports projected the country's future as, at best, one of hard-scrabble survival and, perhaps eventually, a modest level of economic growth and development.
This changed, literally almost overnight, when oil started coursing through the veins of a barely existing economy that could suddenly produce great riches. Oil revenues allowed King Idris al-Sanusi, and then Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, to create and maintain social contracts with their subjects that relied overwhelmingly on distributing largesses rather on perfecting the state.
This was partly to blame for the low sense of political community Libya still faces today, and for the depolitization of its citizen. Ever since 1969 - or perhaps more precisely since the publication of The Green Book - Libya has pursued a policy of statelessness that, at least in theory, puts all powers in the hand of the people. Ironically, as statelessness was pursued, virtually all economic activity within the country came under state control.
The result was the emergence of a state that was seemingly highly autonomous, but without much regulatory capacity, exacerbated by an ideology that celebrated this hollowing-out of state power and regulatory capabilities while projecting a sense of community for its citizen that consistently targeted units below or above the state: kinship, family, tribe, Islam, Arab nationalism, African unity.
In light of this history, the current wave of reforms is greeted by the author with cautious optimism: "While there are signs of pragmatism and of the realization among Libyan policymakers of the need for greater efficiency, there are few indications that the country's system of governance is changing or that a process of accountability is being implemented. (...) The remaining bifurcation between the formal and the informal in the country's political life, the amorphous status of Qadhafi within its political system, the inability to oppose the revolution, the lack of accountability by the country's security sector apparatuses, and the lack of clear succession rules: these challenges Libya will need to address if its proclaimed aims of reforms are to take root."
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3: Excellant and up-to-date reference
As an expat living in Libya since August 2005 I read this book with focused interest. It has greatly helped me understand my government bureaucratic customer. And this new insight has reduced my fustration and increased my effectiveness.
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