THE END OF AUTOCRACY?:THE SEEDS OF LIBYA'S CIVIL WAR

摘要

Libya has been ruled for decades as an unrelenting autocracy: there has been little space for political competition, despite Colonel Gaddafi's belief that such a system exemplified 'perfect governance'. The regime's rapid loss of control in the first half of 2011 is explained by the geography of power in Libya, which splits the country between east and west, and by the inability of such an autocratic regime to make concessions to popular demand. Can the new interim council in Benghazi wrench control from Tripoli or will Gaddafi be able to resist change, despite the determination of the international community?