Staff Editorial: Liberation in Libya?

 After six months of staunch resistance in the face of U. S. diplomatic and military pressure, Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's forty-two-year hold on the North African nation appears to have come to an end. Gaddafi and his supporters had been actively fighting Libyan rebel groups, civilian protestors, and foreign governments' calls for him to leave power, but on August 23, rebel leaders overtook Gaddafi's compound in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, and as of the time of this publication, Gaddafi's location remains unknown. This transition is the latest in a series of uprisings in the Arab World that began with Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011.

Gaddafi came to power in 1969 as the leader of a military coup that overthrew King Idris' monarchy. Since then, he has remained determined to maintain control of Libya and to protect it from Western influence, including Western influence by way of Western-allied nations in the Arab World. Often criticized for his violent and socially repressive maintenance of power, even in the face of opposition from his own citizens, Gaddafi was known to hold trials to discourage political dissent, actions which help to explain the political void, with the exception of the opposition group's Transnational Committee (TNC), now that he is gone. However, his controversial methods did wield some positive results for the nation such as increased control over the country's profits and improved literacy rates.

Gaddafi's saga in Libya is a relatively familiar one among former freedom fighters turned political rulers. The political rebel-turned-dictator as a defense against continuous outside (and Western influence and possible re-colonization) is not a new phenomenon. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who led his country's (then known as Rhodesia) uprising against British colonial rule is now often chastised for being a dictator who drove his country to financial ruin. Following the outbreak of protests in Libya, Gaddafi made a triumphant speech asserting his control over his home and the negative consequences of foreign intervention. His continued desire to maintain self-determination is evident in his speeches, as well as in his attempts to silence his detractors, oftentimes violently and permanently. Gaddafi's plans to negotiate a deal with U. S. officials, because he wary of an imminent American invasion, were also recently discovered.

However, ultimately, it was a new generation of rebels' turn to take power. Right now, the Transnational Committee has the support of much of the international community. The United Nation's Security Council has also made Libya's formerly frozen funds accessible again so that the current ruling body can effectively provide the public with the services that it needs. Much like several of its neighboring nations in North Africa that are now in periods of transition, Libya will now begin to navigate new political waters as the rest of the world watches and waits for the outcome.