The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future

In 2011, spontaneous popular uprisings overthrew Muammar Qadhafi - one of the world's most infamous tyrants. Paradoxically, it was Qadhafi's own efforts to "reform" Libya's economy and rebuild the country's international relationships since 2003 that set the stage for Qadhafi's downfall. Despite the enabling effects of twenty-first century communications technology and the aid of NATO jets, the 2011 Libyan uprisings were organized largely along traditional regional, local, and tribal cleavages. The future of post-Qadhafi Libya will be determined by a struggle between "center" and "periphery." This contest has deep resonances in Libyan history. A work of contemporary political history, this volume analyzes the 2011 Libyan uprisings thematically - focusing on the roles of economics, outside actors, tribes, ethnic minorities, and Islamists. This volume's contributors include the British Ambassador to Libya during the uprisings, the President of the American University of Cairo, a former commander of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and the world's leading academic and security specialists in Libyan affairs.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: the Center and the Periphery; Jason Pack 1. Civil Activism and the Roots of the 2011 Uprisings; George Joffe 2. Dynamics of Continuity and Change; Youssef Mohammed Sawani 3. The Post-Qadhafi Economy; Ronald Bruce St John 4. The Role of Outside Actors; Ambassador Richard Northern and Jason Pack 5. The Rise of Tribal Politics; Wolfram Lacher 6. The South; Henry Smith 7. Islamists; Noman Benotman, Jason Pack, and James Brandon Afterword: Libya - A Journey from Extraordinary to Ordinary; Lisa Anderson

About the Author :
Jason Pack is a researcher of Middle Eastern History at University of Cambridge, UK, with over seven years of experience living, studying, and working in the Middle East. He is President of Libya-Analysis.com and co-author of In War's Wake: The Struggle for Post-Qadhafi Libya (2012). His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The Guardian.

Review :
"In the wake of Libya's civil war, a number of volumes have appeared that chronicle the country's civil war and its aftermath. Few, however, will be able to match the comprehensiveness and insights of The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future, which provides an admirable overview and synthesis of the different aspects of the country's most recent upheaval by several noted Libya-watchers." - Dirk Vandewalle, Dartmouth College, USA "Deeply rooted in historical research, Jason Pack's The 2011 Libyan Uprisings and the Struggle for the Post-Qadhafi Future is a work of original scholarship and analysis that sheds new light on the causes and origins of the Libyan uprisings, the continuous struggle throughout Libyan history between the center and the periphery, and the role of different domestic and international actors in the success of the revolt. The difficulties and hurdles of the transition from Jamahiriya to Jumhuriya are clearly exposed and discussed." - Karim Mezran, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, USA "Best Libya book since the uprisings against the Qadhafi regime. Sweeping introduction will introduce you to individual issues addressed by top experts. Despite ongoing change, this book will stand the test of time." - David Mack, Middle East Institute Scholar, USA and former US Ambassador