Description
Book SynopsisLibya is teetering on the edge of collapse, having become a new haven for terrorist organizations and an epicenter of the refugee crisis. Few could have imagined that the uprising against the longstanding regime of Mu'ammar Al-Gaddafi would expose a polity deeply fractured by internal divisions. Fewer still could have predicted the intractability of the conflicts that emerged in the wake of this revolution.
Jacob Mundy's Libya is the first book to explain the political, security, and humanitarian crises that have engulfed Libya – Africa's largest oil-exporting country – since the Arab Spring of 2011. Examining the roots of the anti-Gaddafi revolution and the failures that resulted in the country's descent into chaos, Mundy identifies new centers of power that coalesced in the wake of the regime's collapse. The more these rival coalitions vied for political authority and control over Libya's vast oil wealth, the more they reached out to external actors who were playing their own "great game" in Libya and across the region. In the face of such a multifaceted crisis, the future looks grim as the international community seems unable to bring peace to this divided and conflict-ridden nation.
Trade Review"Libya's tragic disintegration into a bloody civil war has been poorly understood by both scholars and students. Mundy's clear-eyed and deeply informed book provides the kind of complex analysis and empathetic perspective hitherto absent from the study of the Libyan quagmire."
—John P. Entelis, Fordham University
"While Western military intervention achieved its objective of regime change, it has failed to bring peace and stability to Libya. In this timely and superbly well-written book, Mundy explains why the post-conflict reconstruction has been more daunting than anticipated. Indispensable reading for non-specialists and experts alike."
—Yahia Zoubir, Kedge Business School
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Figures
Introduction: the making and unmaking of modern Libya
Chapter 1. State of the Masses
Chapter 2. Uprising and intervention: Libya in revolt
Chapter 3. State of the Martyrs
Chapter 4. Hegemony or anarchy?
Chapter 5. Libya on the brink
Conclusion
Chronology
References
