A new word is needed to describe these events of recent months. They should be called ‘refolutions’, radical refusals of the old choice between reform and revolution - remarkably sensitive to the grave dangers and high costs of using violent means to get their way
Libya's war is being shaped by Tripoli's defiance, the rebels' endurance, and the western coalition's strains. In the mix, a Gaddafi regime faced with elimination is making larger plans.
A similar conjoining of purpose with process, in relation to the collective use of force, has not been seen since the 1991 Gulf War.
For France, acting in a ‘humanitarian’ manner means intervening in Libya’s civil war but does not extend to freely accepting refugees from Libya or Tunisia within its borders.
Yvan Guichaoua, West Africa expert researching non-government armed groups, describes what kind of force Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is, what motivates its members and what are the conditions of its success. Smuggling, fast cars, and the economics of ransoms combine with ideology to create a t
A single incident in Libya's evolving conflict may come to be pivotal in shaping the fate both of the anti-Gaddafi effort and of western military intervention.
Now the war has started, which side are you on? Should the intervention stop because the war will be long and bloody? Which means that instead the war will be short, Qaddafi will be victorious, and the aftermath will be bloody – probably as bloody as the war.
What is the “Arab spring” becoming? After three months of upheaval, repression and conflict, the democracy wave in the region, including Iran, is at a crucial stage. openDemocracy authors offer concise perspectives on a complex and fluid political moment.(The first contributions in this series wer
The position of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) on the crisis in Libya has derailed the continent’s chance to support the revolutionary paradigm it should be spreading worldwide.
Both the west and the Gaddafi regime are assessing the prospect of a military stalemate in Libya. In any extended campaign, United States-Israel cooperation could offer Tripoli an unexpected gift.
The changing dynamics of the Libyan conflict highlight the contradictions of "humanitarian intervention" when pressed to serve the western way of war, says Martin Shaw.
The truth about western humanitarian interventions is a moral truth
