The Benghazi Treaty is the unfulfilled foundation of modern Italian-Libyan relations

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the Benghazi Treaty of Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation of 2008, concluded between Italy and Libya. This treaty is of particular interest from the point of view of its retrospective, since less than two years after its entry into force, Italy unilaterally suspended the treaty in order to enable NATO allies to launch airstrikes on Libya from military bases in Italy. The author pays attention to the reasons that necessitated the signing of this agreement, originating from the time of the formation of colonial relations between Italy and Libya. Having determined the significance of the treaty taking into account the historical development of the two countries, with the help of content analysis, the author analyzes the articles of the document in order to determine, confirm or refute the expectations of Italy and Libya from the Benghazi Treaty. Content analysis is carried out in three directions: analysis of the preamble, evaluation of the frequency and percentage in the content of the contract and a summary analysis of the entire content. As a result, the author forms the corresponding summary tables, on the basis of which the content of the agreement is evaluated. As a result, based on a retrospective analysis of the relationship between Italian-Libyan relations, an assessment of the factors that led to the signing of the treaty, a content analysis of its content and an assessment of a number of consequences after its signing, the author concludes that the idea of the Benghazi Treaty is promising, but not implemented in the development of relations between Italy and Libya.