Freedom in Libya: Blessing or a Curse?

Freedom in Libya: Blessing or a Curse? Since the Libyan revolution to overthrow Muammar al-Gaddafi ended in August of 2011, the drive for a safer and more democratic state has been met with both optimism and disappointment. The continued ineffectiveness of the General National Congress (GNC) to fill the security vacuum left after Gaddafi’s fall and its inability to secure its porous borders (Wehrey 2013) has help fuel resentment towards it (BBC 2013). Yet, it is this lack of effectiveness that leads to a possible guarded optimism; this is because unlike Egypt or Sudan there was no entrenched officer core or a single arm of resistance that dominated the political as well as military spectrum (Wehrey 2013). Libya has the rare opportunity at a fresh start, as the revolution was a true grass roots uprising with no one political or military order in charge, and even though a diverse set of informal actors have helped fill the security vacuum there has not been a decent into mass internal conflict as seen in Iraq (Wehrey 2013). Through external partnerships with the U.N., the Arab League, and the African Union, the Libyan government will be able to bolster its political capabilities allowing it to reign in the militias, and providing safety to minority groups; all of this would then lead to increased cooperation with the government (Larsen 2011, 3). For forty two years Libya was under the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi who ruled with absolute authority, amended laws and created “special” courts to prosecute and imprison opposition members (International Crisis Group 2013, 11) and used a divide and conquer mentality with the many tribes of Libya to ensure his regime survival (Bell and Witter, The Libyan Revolution: Roots of Rebellion 2011, 17). This all changed in February 17, 2011 when the citizens of Benghazi demonstrated against the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi and were brutally put down by the government forces (Bell and Witter, The Libyan Revolution: Escalation

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