Libya Since Independence: Oil and State-Building [Paperback]

Dirk Vandewalle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1998

Although Libya and its current leader have been the subject of numerous accounts, few have considered how the country's tumultuous history, its institutional development, and its emergence as an oil economy combined to create a state whose rulers ignored the notion of modern statehood. International isolation and a legacy of internal turmoil have destroyed or left undocumented much of what researchers might seek to examine. Dirk Vandewalle supplies a detailed analysis of Libya's political and economic development since the country's independence in 1951, basing his account on fieldwork in Libya, archival research in Tripoli, and personal interviews with some of the country's top policymakers. Vandewalle argues that Libya represents an extreme example of what he calls a "distributive state," an oil-exporting country where an attempt at state-building coincided with large inflows of capital while political and economic institutions were in their infancy. Libya's rulers eventually pursued policies that were politically expedient but proved economically ruinous, and disenfranchised local citizens. Distributive states, according to Vandewalle, may appear capable of resisting economic and political challenges, but they are ill prepared to implement policies that make the state and its institutions relevant to their citizens. Similar developments can be expected whenever local rulers do not have to extract resources from their citizens to fund the building of a modern state.

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801485355
• ISBN-13: 978-0801485350
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > History > Africa > Libya

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on Libya so far, April 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Libya Since Independence: Oil and State-Building (Paperback)

An amazingly comprehensive and insightful study of Libya since 1951. Goes far beyond all the hyberbolic statements the Kaddafi regime AND the United States government have made over the years by systematically putting the Libyan political experimentation in the context of Third World development. Judicious and careful, Vandewalle's access to Libya has produced what is perhaps the best book on this difficult subject in this decade. A real contribution to the study of Libya and to middle eastern studies in general.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Political Economy Analysis of Libya, November 20, 2001

By 

Alessandro Bruno (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Libya Since Independence: Oil and State-Building (Paperback)

I lived in Libya for two years and worked as a UNDP officer there. Having had first hand knowledge of this country I have found few books better than Vandewalle's Libya since Independence. Not only is it an informative text about Libya's socio-economic development it is also a study of the distributive State and the very negative consequences that oil wealth can generate if mishandled. Vandewalle deals with Libya since its independence in 1949 and the political, social and economic transformation that occurred from then to the present. The text notes that the regime that was established as a result of the 1969 revolution has made great efforts to distribute the wealth accumulated from oil production among the population while promoting large scale development projects in infrastructure, education and ISI industrial development. By far the largest single development effort has been the multi-billion dollar Great Man Made River (GMMR) project designed to facilitate irrigation for agricultural production along the Libyan coastline. According to the UNDP adequate standards of living have existed for the majority of the population as a result of an extensive program of welfare spending that has included the provision of state provided basic services and subsidies for many consumer products.
Although significant, Libya's development, both before and after the Fatih Revolution, has been almost entirely patronized by the state. Whereas the government intervened in all sectors of the economy, including import and distribution, there has recently been an effort to transfer some of that responsibility to the private sector. The sharp decline of crude oil prices in the mid 1980's hurt the State's distributive capacity and made it necessary to curtail spending and adopt a measure of economic reforms to stimulate greater private sector involvement in the economy. However, the reforms have only effectively served to retract the distributive network welfare system of subsidies and services that had been one the Government's principal sources of legitimacy with the population, while economic liberalization has not contributed to the creation of a viable and productive private sector. The failure of these reforms has highlighted the institutional shortcomings of the regime that enacted them.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on Libya for over a decade, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Libya Since Independence: Oil and State-Building (Paperback)

A remarkable piece of work. Libya remains one of the countries in the Middle East we know little about, and Vanderwalle's account is one of the best ever. It pretty much replaces whatever has been written about the country during the last 10-15 years in most academic and popular publications. It is scrupulously honest about Kaddafi's politics, and shows as no other previous account how the current Libyan leader extended many of his predecessor's policies. Well written and accessible, despite somewhat a somewhat daunting theoretical chapter. A definitive analysis of Libya since independence.