Tripoli in the Balance

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

The Feed

It seems that Gaddafi's fall is now a matter of when, not if. But fighting and celebration both continue in Tripoli, and many questions hang over the Libyan people. For example:

• What kind of government will emerge in Libya? What kind of economy?
• Who will be in power? Will ordinary people have a say in the structures that govern them?
• Will Libya avoid ethnic warfare?
• What role will NATO play - or try to play - in a new Libya?
• What difference will it make that Libya's revolution has centered on an armed revolt, unlike for example the struggle in Syria? How will the means of struggle affect the outcome?

For one Arab view of events unfolding in Tripoli, go to Al Jazeera English. Here's a sample from their site:

For one US scholar's view, read what Juan Cole says at Informed Comment. Here's a taste:

"The Libyan Revolution has largely succeeded, and this is a moment of celebration, not only for Libyans but for a youth generation in the Arab world that has pursued a political opening across the region. The secret of the uprising’s final days of success lay in a popular revolt in the working-class districts of the capital, which did most of the hard work of throwing off the rule of secret police and military cliques."