YNet: Arabs Unprepared for Democracy
Yigal Walt at YNet News writes: IDF Major General Arab Spring” may ultimately turn into a “radical Islamic winter.” Recent events in Egypt and elsewhere in the region indicate that this grim assessment is materializing at a rapid pace right before our eyes. Foolish Western observers who lauded the “great revolutions” sweeping the Middle East have displayed … Read more
Will Syrian Protests Turn Violent?
After six months of nonviolent protests have resulted in thousands of dead and injured civilians and have not produced any real reforms by the Syrian regime, some are calling for a move towards an armed uprising styled after the Libyan civil war. There are rumors of arms being smuggled into the country from neighboring Iraq … Read more
Why is NATO in Libya?
So NATO is clearly following the UN mandate that authorized a NATO no fly zone in order to protect civilians (and nothing more.) Responding to whether NATO would pursue Qaddafi military vehicles fleeing south to Niger and possibly Burkina Faso, Colonel Roland Lavoie, the NATO mission’s military spokesman, said: To be clear, our mission is to … Read more
“It Doesn’t Really Matter How Much Support He Has Left”
The big news in Libya today is the convey of 200-250 Libyan military vehicles that has reportedly crossed the border into Niger, perhaps on their way to Burkino Faso. Over the years Burkino Faso has received a substantial amount of support from the Qaddafi regime (Qaddafi was a major player in the coup that brought … Read more
Jihadists in Libya
Omar Ashour has a nice piece in Foreign Policy about the potential resurgence of jihadists in post-Qaddafi Libya. According to Ashour, there are three possibilities for the jihadists: reintegration, political inclusion, or clash. In the aftermath of Qaddafi, interactions between the National Transitional Council (NTC) and armed Islamist organizations can take three trajectories: reintegration, … Read more
Did the Fall of Tripoli Vindicate the Intervention?
In the lead up to the decision to intervene in Libya, I was pretty skeptical. Without overstepping the UN mandate, it seemed as though there was little that the international community could do in order to protect the rebel movement. The intervention, by the end, was anything but humanitarian. It is true that foreign air … Read more
Reactions from Libya
With Qaddafi’s days pretty much limited, there has been much speculation about what comes after. What will Libya look like? Obviously, there are many challenges that remain for the country. Here are some thoughts from around the web. Issandr El Amrani believes the TNC is up to the task: Taking early stock of the Libyan … Read more
NATO Troops to Enter Libya, Part II
Earlier today I linked to arguments made by Max Boot and Richard Haass in favor of sending foreign (see: western [see: American]) troops into Libya to ensure that the country does not fall in the face of the many challenges that it is certain to face. Personally, I think that the west should absolutely … Read more
Thoughts on Libyan Nation Building After Qaddafi
James Dobbins and Frederic Wehrey have an article up at Foreign Affairs discussing the role of western governments in post-Qaddafi Libya. It is clear that Libya will be facing severe challenges as it tries to build a nation from scratch; a lack of institutions, competing tribal militias, and the potential for an insurgency movement, … Read more
NATO Troops to Enter Libya?
Max Boot reiterates the fact that the fall of Qaddafi is not the end of the problems facing Libya and concludes that the presence of western troops in is essential for the prolonged success of the Libyan revolution: But there remains a real danger of catastrophe, a la post-Taliban Afghanistan and post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, which each succumbed … Read more
Chris Keeler
Chris Whitman
