Libya and the West
What Everyone Needs to Know (R)
Published on 27. August 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-0-19-022303-8 (ISBN)
Description
Libya and the West: What Everyone Needs to Know (R) is a welcome update to the literature on Western diplomatic relations with Libya. It specifically analyzes the complicated relationships that Italy, Britain, the United States, and France developed with Libya beginning in the 1910s. On the basis of a wide range of primary and secondary sources, it offers insights into the political and socio-economic conditions within Libya that concerned Western leaders and shaped their policies. Among the crucial episodes that this book embraces are fascist Italy's military conquest and colonization of Libya; the expulsion of Axis armies from Libya and other north African states during World War II; the enthronement of King Idris in 1951; the discovery of oil in Libya in 1959. It explains the seizure of power by Muammar Qaddafi in 1969; the low-intensity military conflict between the United States and Libya in the 1980s; the Western response to Libyan acts of terrorism, including the murder of a British police officer in London in 1984 and the downing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988; the enduring turmoil sparked by the Arab Spring in 2011; the decision by NATO powers to intervene militarily in the Libyan civil war to ensure the downfall of the Qaddafi regime; and the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens at Benghazi in 2012.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
3 maps
Dimensions
Height: 205 mm
Width: 138 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
364 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-022303-8 (9780190223038)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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Book
05/2025
Oxford University Press Inc
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E-Book
04/2025
OUP USA
€13.99
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04/2025
OUP USA
€13.99
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Person
Peter Hahn has published several books on the history of American diplomacy in the Middle East, most recently Missions Accomplished? The United States and Iraq since World War I and Crisis and Crossfire: The United States and the Middle East since 1945, as well as scores of articles, essays, and reviews. He has conducted research in the archives of the United States, Israel, Britain, and France; delivered scholarly papers and invited lectures in eleven countries; consulted with policymakers in the U.S. Departments of State, Defense, and Justice and with senior officers of the Ohio National Guard; and given interviews to the media on five continents.
Content
1) The Italian Colonization of Libya in the Era of the World Wars
When and why did Italy become a colonial power?
When and why did Italy take a colonial interest in Libya in particular?
How did Italy prepare diplomatically to colonize Libya?
What triggered the outbreak of the Italian-Ottoman War of 1911-12?
What were the international consequences of the Italian-Ottoman War?
How did Libyans react to the Italian invasion?
How did Libya factor into the military dynamics of World War I?
What was the nature of Italian rule in Libya after World War I?
Why did Italy intensify its military operations in Libya in 1923?
How did Italy conquer Libya in 1923-31?
What type of government did Italy impose on Libya?
Why did Italy refer to Libya as "the Fourth Shore"?
What was Italy's overall approach to developing Libya as a colony?
How did native Italian settlers figure into Italy's plans to colonize the "Fourth Shore"?
How did Italy's settlement schemes change after the defeat of the Senussi resistance in 1931?
What was the intention and impact of Mussolini's 1937 visit to Libya?
What was the impact of Italian colonial rule on the people of Libya?
What were Italy's plans for expanding its imperial presence in Africa beyond Libya?
How did Britain and France respond to the Italian conquest of Libya?
How did Britain and France respond to the Italian expansionism elsewhere?
How did World War II affect Italy's colonial position in Libya?
What role did Libya play in the battles between the Allied and Axis powers during World War
II?
What were the views of Libyans toward World War II?
Did Libyans participate in the war as combatants?
What was the impact of World War II on the people of Libya?
2) From Colony to Monarchy to Revolution: Libya, 1943-1969
What happened in Libya after the expulsion of Italian and German military forces from North
Africa in 1943?
How did the victorious Allies sort out Libya's permanent status in the aftermath of World War
II?
How did the Italian Peace Treaty of 1947 address the issue of Libya?
What diplomatic initiatives did the great powers take after the Italian Peace Treaty?
How did strategic factors shape Western thinking about Libya?
How did the United Nations handle the Italian colonies issue?
What challenges faced Libyans during the period of great power and U.N. deliberations about
their future?
How did Libya advance toward statehood under the auspices of the U.N. Commissioner?
What type of political order emerged in Libya under King Idris?
What foreign policies did the independent Kingdom of Libya pursue?
How did Libya's pro-Western orientation influence its relations with other Arab states?
How did the discovery of oil shape Libya's development as an independent state?
In what ways did the oil wealth change Libya's internal socio-economic order?
To what degree did the socio-economic instability of the 1960s contribute to political unrest?
What was the effect of the Arab-Israeli War of June 1967 on Libya's political orientation?
What were the origins of the Libyan revolution of 1969?
Who was Muammar al-Qaddafi and how was he able to seize power from King Idris in 1969?
3) Libya Under Muammar al-Qaddafi
What steps did Muammar al-Qaddafi and his compatriots take to consolidate power in Libya?
How did the Western powers view the Libyan coup?
What type of government did the Revolutionary Command Council establish?
How did the Libyan domestic political order evolve under Qaddafi's leadership in the 1970s?
What economic reforms did Qaddafi implement?
Was there domestic opposition to Qaddafi's rule?
What policy did Qaddafi pursue toward the great powers engaged in the Cold War?
What policies did Western powers initially pursue toward Qaddafi's regime?
How did Qaddafi manage Libya's oil industry and the Western firms that dominated it?
What was Qaddafi's policy toward pan-Arab unification?
What was Qaddafi's policy toward Israel?
Why did Libya engage in international terrorism to achieve its foreign policy objectives?
What policies did Qaddafi pursue in Africa?
How did French-Libyan relations evolve in the 1970 and 1980s?
How did Italian-Libyan relations evolve in the 1970s?
How did U.S.-Libyan relations evolve in the 1970s?
How did Qaddafi reach out directly to the American people?
Why did U.S. and French relations with Libya reach a crisis in 1980?
4) Qaddafi and the West in the 1980s and 1990s
What was the political situation within Libya in the 1980s?
What was the economic situation within Libya in the 1980s?
Why did Western powers and Libya clash again in Chad in the 1980s?
What approach did the Ronald Reagan administration follow toward Libya?
What triggered the military incident between U.S. and Libyan warplanes in the Gulf of Sidra
in 1981?
What was the impact of the air engagement on U.S.-Libyan relations?
How did the Western European powers view Libya in the early 1980s?
Why did the United Kingdom sever diplomatic relations with Libya in 1984?
Why did U.S.-Libyan relations deteriorate in the mid-1980s?
How did U.S. security strategy toward terrorism evolve in the 1980s?
How did the United States react to the surge in terrorism by Libya in particular?
What was the impact of these policies on U.S. relations with Libya?
How did the European powers view the escalation of U.S. pressure on Libya?
Did the European powers support the U.S. airstrikes on Libya in April 1986?
How did U.S.-Libya relations develop in the late 1980s?
Was Libya complicit in the bombing of civilian airliners in 1988-1989?
How did the international community handle evidence of Libyan complicity in the Lockerbie
bombing?
To what extent did Western powers worry about Libyan development of nuclear weapons?
How did Qaddafi's foreign conflicts shape his people's perceptions of him in the 1990s?
Did Qaddafi face threats of internal rebellion?
5) The Rapprochement between Qaddafi and the West, early 2000s
How was the controversy over the Lockerbie bombing resolved?
Did Qaddafi otherwise moderate his foreign policy?
What verdict did the Scottish court reach in the Lockerbie trial?
Was al-Megrahi actually guilty?
What effect did the Lockerbie trial have on Libya's relations with Western powers?
What was the impact of 9/11 on the U.S.-Libyan relationship?
How did the 9/11 breakthrough contribute to the settlement of the Lockerbie issue?
How did France respond to the Lockerbie settlement?
On what terms did the United Nations lift its sanctions against Libya?
When did Libya decide to renounce its weapons of mass destruction programs?
Why did Libya decide to renounce its weapons of mass destruction programs?
Did the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq in March 2003 influence Qaddafi's decision to
renounce WMD?
How did Libya and Western powers follow up on the WMD deal?
How did French-Libyan relations evolve after sanctions were lifted?
What was the nature of Italy's relationship with Libya?
Why did the United States restore diplomatic relations with Libya?
What was Qaddafi's international reputation after diplomatic relations were normalized?
What type of domestic leader did Qaddafi become in the early 2000s?
6) The Libyan Revolution of 2011
What were the long-term origins of the Libyan revolution of 2011?
What were the immediate triggers of the Libyan uprising?
Did U.S. policies trigger the Arab Spring uprisings?
How did Qaddafi react to the protests?
What was the result of Qaddafi's decision to suppress the demonstrations with force?
Why did the Libyan opposition form the National Transition Council?
How did Western governments view the uprising in Libya?
To what extent did human rights concerns motivate the Western powers to act against
Qaddafi?
What action did the U.N. Security Council take against Qaddafi's regime?
How did Western policy toward Qaddafi evolve in March 2011?
What action did the U.N. Security Council take in March 2011?
What military action did Western powers take under the Security Council resolutions?
How did the Western powers justify their military assaults?
What was the impact of the Western intervention on the civil war in Libya?
Did the Allies try to overthrow or kill Qaddafi with their airstrikes?
Why did NATO become involved in air operations against Libya?
Were efforts made to end the fighting via diplomacy?
How did the rebels ultimately prevail?
What happened to Qaddafi?
How did Qaddafi's legacy shape the political situation in Libya?
Could the Western intervention in Libya be deemed a long-term success?
7) The Libyan Civil War of the 2010s
What steps were taken to establish a stable government after the downfall of Qaddafi?
How did the Western powers view the new government of Libya?
What were the origins of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September
11, 2012?
Why did the Benghazi attack become a prominent issue in U.S. domestic politics?
How well did the elected government of Libya stabilize and administer the country?
How did the Western powers try to stabilize Libya after the Benghazi raid?
Why did the elected government of Libya decline in 2014?
What triggered the start of full-scale civil war?
Why did Muslim-majority states become involved in the Libyan civil war?
How did the Western powers assess the Libyan civil war?
What kind of threat did Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) pose in Libya?
How did the Western powers respond to the rise of ISIS in Libya?
How did the United Nations try to pacify the civil war?
How did the civil war shape patterns of human migration in Libya?
How did European powers attempt to resolve the political deadlock in Libya?
Did U.S. policy in Libya change under President Donald J. Trump?
Why did the Libyan civil war resume in 2019?
How did the Western powers react to Hifter's offensive on Tripoli?
How did non-Western powers react to Hifter's offensive?
What was the outcome of the battle for Tripoli?
Was the United Nations able to broker a postwar settlement?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
When and why did Italy become a colonial power?
When and why did Italy take a colonial interest in Libya in particular?
How did Italy prepare diplomatically to colonize Libya?
What triggered the outbreak of the Italian-Ottoman War of 1911-12?
What were the international consequences of the Italian-Ottoman War?
How did Libyans react to the Italian invasion?
How did Libya factor into the military dynamics of World War I?
What was the nature of Italian rule in Libya after World War I?
Why did Italy intensify its military operations in Libya in 1923?
How did Italy conquer Libya in 1923-31?
What type of government did Italy impose on Libya?
Why did Italy refer to Libya as "the Fourth Shore"?
What was Italy's overall approach to developing Libya as a colony?
How did native Italian settlers figure into Italy's plans to colonize the "Fourth Shore"?
How did Italy's settlement schemes change after the defeat of the Senussi resistance in 1931?
What was the intention and impact of Mussolini's 1937 visit to Libya?
What was the impact of Italian colonial rule on the people of Libya?
What were Italy's plans for expanding its imperial presence in Africa beyond Libya?
How did Britain and France respond to the Italian conquest of Libya?
How did Britain and France respond to the Italian expansionism elsewhere?
How did World War II affect Italy's colonial position in Libya?
What role did Libya play in the battles between the Allied and Axis powers during World War
II?
What were the views of Libyans toward World War II?
Did Libyans participate in the war as combatants?
What was the impact of World War II on the people of Libya?
2) From Colony to Monarchy to Revolution: Libya, 1943-1969
What happened in Libya after the expulsion of Italian and German military forces from North
Africa in 1943?
How did the victorious Allies sort out Libya's permanent status in the aftermath of World War
II?
How did the Italian Peace Treaty of 1947 address the issue of Libya?
What diplomatic initiatives did the great powers take after the Italian Peace Treaty?
How did strategic factors shape Western thinking about Libya?
How did the United Nations handle the Italian colonies issue?
What challenges faced Libyans during the period of great power and U.N. deliberations about
their future?
How did Libya advance toward statehood under the auspices of the U.N. Commissioner?
What type of political order emerged in Libya under King Idris?
What foreign policies did the independent Kingdom of Libya pursue?
How did Libya's pro-Western orientation influence its relations with other Arab states?
How did the discovery of oil shape Libya's development as an independent state?
In what ways did the oil wealth change Libya's internal socio-economic order?
To what degree did the socio-economic instability of the 1960s contribute to political unrest?
What was the effect of the Arab-Israeli War of June 1967 on Libya's political orientation?
What were the origins of the Libyan revolution of 1969?
Who was Muammar al-Qaddafi and how was he able to seize power from King Idris in 1969?
3) Libya Under Muammar al-Qaddafi
What steps did Muammar al-Qaddafi and his compatriots take to consolidate power in Libya?
How did the Western powers view the Libyan coup?
What type of government did the Revolutionary Command Council establish?
How did the Libyan domestic political order evolve under Qaddafi's leadership in the 1970s?
What economic reforms did Qaddafi implement?
Was there domestic opposition to Qaddafi's rule?
What policy did Qaddafi pursue toward the great powers engaged in the Cold War?
What policies did Western powers initially pursue toward Qaddafi's regime?
How did Qaddafi manage Libya's oil industry and the Western firms that dominated it?
What was Qaddafi's policy toward pan-Arab unification?
What was Qaddafi's policy toward Israel?
Why did Libya engage in international terrorism to achieve its foreign policy objectives?
What policies did Qaddafi pursue in Africa?
How did French-Libyan relations evolve in the 1970 and 1980s?
How did Italian-Libyan relations evolve in the 1970s?
How did U.S.-Libyan relations evolve in the 1970s?
How did Qaddafi reach out directly to the American people?
Why did U.S. and French relations with Libya reach a crisis in 1980?
4) Qaddafi and the West in the 1980s and 1990s
What was the political situation within Libya in the 1980s?
What was the economic situation within Libya in the 1980s?
Why did Western powers and Libya clash again in Chad in the 1980s?
What approach did the Ronald Reagan administration follow toward Libya?
What triggered the military incident between U.S. and Libyan warplanes in the Gulf of Sidra
in 1981?
What was the impact of the air engagement on U.S.-Libyan relations?
How did the Western European powers view Libya in the early 1980s?
Why did the United Kingdom sever diplomatic relations with Libya in 1984?
Why did U.S.-Libyan relations deteriorate in the mid-1980s?
How did U.S. security strategy toward terrorism evolve in the 1980s?
How did the United States react to the surge in terrorism by Libya in particular?
What was the impact of these policies on U.S. relations with Libya?
How did the European powers view the escalation of U.S. pressure on Libya?
Did the European powers support the U.S. airstrikes on Libya in April 1986?
How did U.S.-Libya relations develop in the late 1980s?
Was Libya complicit in the bombing of civilian airliners in 1988-1989?
How did the international community handle evidence of Libyan complicity in the Lockerbie
bombing?
To what extent did Western powers worry about Libyan development of nuclear weapons?
How did Qaddafi's foreign conflicts shape his people's perceptions of him in the 1990s?
Did Qaddafi face threats of internal rebellion?
5) The Rapprochement between Qaddafi and the West, early 2000s
How was the controversy over the Lockerbie bombing resolved?
Did Qaddafi otherwise moderate his foreign policy?
What verdict did the Scottish court reach in the Lockerbie trial?
Was al-Megrahi actually guilty?
What effect did the Lockerbie trial have on Libya's relations with Western powers?
What was the impact of 9/11 on the U.S.-Libyan relationship?
How did the 9/11 breakthrough contribute to the settlement of the Lockerbie issue?
How did France respond to the Lockerbie settlement?
On what terms did the United Nations lift its sanctions against Libya?
When did Libya decide to renounce its weapons of mass destruction programs?
Why did Libya decide to renounce its weapons of mass destruction programs?
Did the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq in March 2003 influence Qaddafi's decision to
renounce WMD?
How did Libya and Western powers follow up on the WMD deal?
How did French-Libyan relations evolve after sanctions were lifted?
What was the nature of Italy's relationship with Libya?
Why did the United States restore diplomatic relations with Libya?
What was Qaddafi's international reputation after diplomatic relations were normalized?
What type of domestic leader did Qaddafi become in the early 2000s?
6) The Libyan Revolution of 2011
What were the long-term origins of the Libyan revolution of 2011?
What were the immediate triggers of the Libyan uprising?
Did U.S. policies trigger the Arab Spring uprisings?
How did Qaddafi react to the protests?
What was the result of Qaddafi's decision to suppress the demonstrations with force?
Why did the Libyan opposition form the National Transition Council?
How did Western governments view the uprising in Libya?
To what extent did human rights concerns motivate the Western powers to act against
Qaddafi?
What action did the U.N. Security Council take against Qaddafi's regime?
How did Western policy toward Qaddafi evolve in March 2011?
What action did the U.N. Security Council take in March 2011?
What military action did Western powers take under the Security Council resolutions?
How did the Western powers justify their military assaults?
What was the impact of the Western intervention on the civil war in Libya?
Did the Allies try to overthrow or kill Qaddafi with their airstrikes?
Why did NATO become involved in air operations against Libya?
Were efforts made to end the fighting via diplomacy?
How did the rebels ultimately prevail?
What happened to Qaddafi?
How did Qaddafi's legacy shape the political situation in Libya?
Could the Western intervention in Libya be deemed a long-term success?
7) The Libyan Civil War of the 2010s
What steps were taken to establish a stable government after the downfall of Qaddafi?
How did the Western powers view the new government of Libya?
What were the origins of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September
11, 2012?
Why did the Benghazi attack become a prominent issue in U.S. domestic politics?
How well did the elected government of Libya stabilize and administer the country?
How did the Western powers try to stabilize Libya after the Benghazi raid?
Why did the elected government of Libya decline in 2014?
What triggered the start of full-scale civil war?
Why did Muslim-majority states become involved in the Libyan civil war?
How did the Western powers assess the Libyan civil war?
What kind of threat did Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) pose in Libya?
How did the Western powers respond to the rise of ISIS in Libya?
How did the United Nations try to pacify the civil war?
How did the civil war shape patterns of human migration in Libya?
How did European powers attempt to resolve the political deadlock in Libya?
Did U.S. policy in Libya change under President Donald J. Trump?
Why did the Libyan civil war resume in 2019?
How did the Western powers react to Hifter's offensive on Tripoli?
How did non-Western powers react to Hifter's offensive?
What was the outcome of the battle for Tripoli?
Was the United Nations able to broker a postwar settlement?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index