Alex+Mennella+and+Konrad+Dziedzic

=Libya=

Part I: A Look At Libya



 * Demographics: **


 * Median age of the population: 24.5 years
 * Life expectancy of male is 75 years, female is 80 years 15-64 years: 62.7% (male 2,124,053/female 2,011,226).
 * Religion: Islam is Libya’s official religion, and Sunni Muslims make more than 97% of the population, 3% other.
 * Ethnicity: Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians).


 * Economic Resources: **


 * ** Exports: ** natural gas and fruits, vegetables, grains, and cattle, crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, chemicals.
 * ** Imports: ** imports about two-thirds of its food. Oil wealth is shared through a system of subsidies on gas and food. Other imports include machinery, transport equipment, food, manufactured goods, consumer products, semi-finished goods.
 * ** GDP: ** Crude oil and refined petroleum products account for more than a third of the GDP. The GDP of Libya is $14,000. The US GDP is $47,200. The comparison tells us that the value of all goods and services produced annually in an economy in Libya is worth less than the value of all goods and services produced in the US.
 * **Jobs:** agriculture 17%, industry 23%, services and government 59%, and 10% are unemployed.


 * Geography: **

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 * 4th largest country in Africa [[image:http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so191/Projects2007/Joy/Oct16/lby6614.jpg width="396" height="271" align="right"]]
 * Rocky coast followed by a small strip of farmable land.
 * Most of the country is covered by the Sahara desert (90% of country)
 * beaches, oases, rocky hills, mountains, and sand dune-filled deserts.
 * Libya borders the Mediterranean sea, which means warm summers, mild winters, and an average of 16 inches of rainfall per year.
 * Inland, the weather is much drier and warmer. Temperatures may reach 120 degrees fahrenheit and in the desert may only receive 1 inch of rain per year.
 * Libya has no permanent rivers, only wadis or dry riverbeds that fill with water when it rains.


 * Political Structure: **


 * Libya was originally was ruled by the dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but now is a transitional government under the rule of an interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril. This type of government tells us that Libya has not fully recovered from the revolution and is still in the process of creating a new government.
 * Every Libyan citizen has the right to vote.
 * The country's first official election after Gaddafi will be held in late June. Before this, no public elections were held under Gaddafi. Libyan citizens have not been able to vote for more than 40 years.

Part II: History

 * ** March 2nd, 1977 **** - ** Muammar Gaddafi was designated the leader of the Libyan state. He was called the permanent “Leader of the Revolution”
 * **February 15th-16th, 2011** - Human rights activist Fethi Tarbel is arrested. This sparks protests and riots in Benghazi.
 * **February 24th, 2011** - Anti-government militias take control of the coastal city of Mistrata. This marks the first victory for the rebels.
 * **March 17th, 2011-March 19th, 2011** - The U.N. Security Council votes to authorize a no-fly zone over Libya to protect the rebels from Gaddafi’s forces air strikes. NATO initiates strikes on Libyan mainland to help rebels.
 * **August 21st, 2011-August 23rd, 2011** - Rebel forces enter the capital of Tripoli. They overran Gaddafi’s forces and secured the city. They trashed any symbols of Gaddafi or his rule.
 * **October 20th, 2011** - Muammar Gaddafi was captured, beaten and killed after the battle of Sirte. He was hiding in Sirte which was one of the only cities that still supported his rule.

Part III: ** Legitimacy of Qaddafi & His Government **

 * Provide Public Service: **He did fulfill in Providing Public Service to his people by using Libya's oil for the benefit of the Libyan people by creating a genuine welfare state, with state-of the-art medical facilities and an education system available to all. Loans are available to all citizens at a 0 percent interest rate, housing is considered a human right, newlyweds received $50,000 to buy their first apartment, and every woman who gave birth was provided $5,000 by state. All education and medical treatment were free under Gaddafi. The great man-made river was created to make water available throughout its desert country. He did not fulfill in Providing Public Service in the same time because he lived in wealth, while his people suffered in poverty.


 * National Defense: ** Yes, he did fulfill of having a national defense. He had his own military force that followed and believed in him in portions of Eastern Libya. On the other hand, Eastern Libya was controlled by the anti-Gaddafi forces for eventual full-on combat in Western Libya against pro-Gaddafi militants.


 * Maintain Order: ** Gaddafi was not able to maintain order while in office. He did a good job in the beginning of his rule, but when the Libyan people started to revolt, he was unable to maintain order and he eventually fled and was killed days later.

Gaddafi did fulfill in protecting individual rights. He believed that the Arabs were the descendants of Black Africans and always told his people that they owed special respect to black Africans. He put in place a policy whereby black Africans were welcomed into Libya as employees and even members of the Libyan army. Black Libyans, together with more than two million migrant workers, made up roughly a third of the population .
 * Protection of Individual Rights: **


 * Making Economic Decision: ** G addafi didn’t fulfill in making economic decisions because of him the war against Gaddafi also led to the spread of economic suffering throughout the region as hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers were forced to leave to neighbouring countries. He was presented as the evil monster that everyone should run away from. But on the other hand, he also did fulfill in making economic decisions because he took extensive measures to ensure that Libya's oil wealth was used for the benefit of the Libyan people and created a genuine welfare state, with medical facilities and an education system available to all. Also, people's standards of living were by far the highest in Africa. No Libyan has paid for electricity charges, there was no bill as it was declared a free commodity. There was no interest on loans, loans are given to all its citizens at a 0 per cent interest rate, by law. Housing was considered a human right All newly-weds received $50,000 from the government to buy their first apartment and start up a family.


 * Part VI: **** Snapshot of the Uprising **
 * ** Who Revolted? ** Mostly,the young Libyan people revolted. They were all fed up with Gaddafi and they felt it was time for a new leader. The majority of the people were Arabs that revolted, but almost the entire country revolted as a whole.


 * ** Why Did They Revolt? ** The people in Libya were upset with Gaddafi because they felt he had been in power for too long. They also were inspired to revolt by the Egyptians, who were successful in their attempt at taking Hosni Mubarak out of power. They believed that a revolution was the only way to take Gaddafi out of power because he said he would not step down under any conditions.


 * **How did they organize?** The revolution was not planned until after the Egyptian revolution. A businessman and opposition leader came up with a unique way to bypass security to start the revolution. He sent messages out through a Muslim marriage site. There were 31 members that organized the TNC, but only 13 were known before they were successful.


 * **How did the people overthrow the Government?** Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown by a national rebellion. The rebellion was made up of many of the citizens of Libya that have come together and formed a militia called the anti-Gaddafi forces. The anti-Gaddafi force formed a committee called National Transitional Council. It was meant to act as an interim authority in the rebel-controlled areas. The anti-Gaddafi force was avery armed military that fought in the Libyan Civil War against the forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, along with the people united to oust him from the capital of Libya, Tripoli. The thing that caused the Libyans people to act against Muammar Gaddafi is because the fact that Gaddafi lived in wealth, while his people lived in poverty and they have suffered through the years under his dictation.


 * **How was the government the same or different following the Revolution?** Libya's Western-backed interim government took control of the country after the revolution. Many difficulties are faced in rebuilding the country after Gaddafi’s death. Revolutionary military councils have been in skirmishes as retribution killings against alleged Gadhafi loyalists jeopardize the reconciliation process. Attacks have also reportedly occurred against black-skinned Africans accused of fighting for Gaddafi as mercenaries. To the extent that there are these kinds of revenge attacks and this sort of thing in the country of punishment for people who were loyal to Gadhafi, it is very hard for the government to transition in the direction the country needs to transition to.The whole government has to start off from scratch, Gaddafi’s Libya cannot be ignored. The previous rules don't exist anymore and the future rules are not there yet.

Citations:
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. "Libya." //US Department of State//. US Department of State, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. .

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