Libya in western foreign policies, 1911–2011

Abstract

Beginning with the Phoenicians and Greeks, external actors have influenced, if not dictated, events in Libya for thousands of years. In Libya in western foreign policies, Saskia Van Genugten ‘traces the history of the bilateral relations between Libya and those western governments most vital to its political and economic development—the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and the United States’ over a much shorter period, arguing that ‘these foreign powers most clearly shaped the path of Libya as a state’ (p. 4) over the last century. Her central argument ‘is that, throughout history, the globe's most powerful international contenders have regarded Libya as a peripheral state, even after the discovery of vast quantities of oil’ (p. 5). In developing her argument, she provides an informed, balanced and lucid account of Libyan relations with the western powers after 1911. As she details the long-term interests of France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States in the country, it should be noted that the external actors involved in the run-up to Libyan independence in 1951 are remarkably similar to those involved in more recent efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the instability and violence in post-Gaddafi Libya. After the Second World War, the Great Powers (France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States), with Italy on the periphery, failed to reach consensus on the future of Libya, turning the issue over to the United Nations in 1949. The UN General Assembly appointed a ten-member advisory council which included the representatives of Egypt, France, Italy, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with four Libyan leaders appointed by the UN Commissioner for Libya. In post-Gaddafi Libya, Egypt, France, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States again have been centre stage in supporting the efforts of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to form a national unity government. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.