Article |
Libya’s foreign policy in flux
Director of the Center for International Political Studies and lectures in the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria, South Africa
Research Associate at the Unit for African Studies, Center for International Political Studies.
Abstract
This article provides a brief assessment of Libya’s often unpredictable foreign policy with regard to Africa. The first section presents a brief historical background to Libya’s involvement on the African continent and Colonel Gaddafi’s military interventionism in Africa. The next section assesses the 1990s and Muammar Gaddafi’s popularity during this period as well as his often extravagant economic involvement in Africa. The third section considers Gaddafi’s ambitious role in the African Union and his efforts to secure a united Africa. The fourth section assesses Gaddafi’s dramatic foreign policy shift from rogue criminal to responsible statesman, following his historic decision to relinquish his country’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and an almost enthusiastic willingness to welcome the West back after decades of antagonism and the subsequent wave of international praise as a consequence. Finally, it gives a brief assessment of the future of Libya’s foreign relations.