Opinion: From Who Should Libya be Liberated?
Dr Noah Bassil
I was speaking with an Arab friend and commentator on what is happening in Libya when he said to me, “when will the west ever learn?” Sure, I replied, but what lessons do you think they need to learn? He responded strongly with the “west” thinks that it can intervene when and where it wants and in whatever means it likes, even to promote democracy. But he added, this is contradictory.
Thinking about this more closely, it is clear that my Arab informant is very right. Democracy is supposedly, by the people and for the people and if we take this equation of politics seriously then democracy cannot be imposed or transferred but only arises from the power of the people. What does this mean for Libya today?
Firstly, there are rumblings that the western action against Libya is seen both within the country and throughout the broader Arab world as aggression. Arabs seem to be asking why such a robust response to Gaddafi’s crackdown while there have been rather cautious responses to the excessive use of government force against pro-democracy aspirations in Yemen where 52 protesters wee killed last Friday by government forces and in Bahrain where Saudi troops have bolstered the coercive apparatus of the monarchy. Some Arabs don’t like Gaddafi, of this I’m pretty sure, but what they dislike much more is imperialistic gestures and the fear of western occupation, of this I am even more certain. So, in some circles, and if French, British and American warplanes continue to assault Libyan sovereignty, it is very plausible that Gaddafi’s star will rise while those of the Libyan opposition will wane both within the country and throughout the entire country.
The further concern relates to what this “western” action is doing to the perception of the broader pro-democracy movements across the region. To what extent will authoritarian leaders be able to paint pro-democracy movements as western conspiracies rather than organic movements for change is a question being asked across the region today. Two weeks ago, Muammar and his son Saif used the foreign conspiracy claims as a way of justifying their crackdown on rebels in the east of the country. For most Australians, maybe with the important exception of the indigenous population, the threat of foreign interference or occupation is not an issue of any importance. But for Libyans as for most of the former colonised regions of the world, foreign occupation resonates strongly. Libya itself was until relatively recently an Italian colony.
In 1911, the Italians invaded Libya claiming they were liberating the Arab population from the tyrannical rule of the Ottoman Empire. Three decades and hundreds of thousands of Libyan lives later the Italians were forced out of North Africa during World War II by the combined efforts of the Allied and Arab forces which included a significant Australian contingent. The memory of colonialism has not evaporated from North Africa where bloody anti-colonial wars cost hundreds of thousands of Libyan and other North African lives in the twentieth century. In the light of this living memory, as well as the very negative Arab perception of the more recent US occupation of Iraq, the deep reservations (and cynicism and anger) that are appearing within the Arab League and the Arab press about the “western” intervention is quite understandable.
Gadaffi may hold onto to power in Libya and extend his 42 year reign, conversely he may not. Either way, the “western” intervention is creating some serious issues within the country and possibly throughout the entire region. I have mentioned the threat to pro-democracy movements and the further decline of the perception of the “west” in the Arab world. But it is in Libya, where the major problems lie. If Gaddafi is ousted because the western” intervention has tilted power away from his regime, will those that follow him be truly representative of the majority of the people or are they a relatively small group of rebels who were only able to come to power because their aim of ousting Gadaffi just happened to coincide with that of the major “western” powers? Will they be inclined to support implementing democratic change or hanging onto power by using the same ruthless tactics of the regime they toppled? Only time will tell, but one hundred years after the Italians crossed the Mediterranean promising to liberate the Libyan people, the “western” powers should stop and reflect, as my Arab friend suggested, so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.
Dr Noah Bassil is Lecturer in Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. He teaches in Middle East and North African politics and is the author of the forthcoming book “The Crisis of the Post-Colonial State in Sudan: The Origins of the Conflict in Darfur”.
