Libya Since Independence: Oil and State-Building

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Summary: Best book on Libya for over a decade
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The best Political Economy Analysis of Libya
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The best Political Economy Analysis of Libya
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Love this book!!
Review: We just used Libya since Independence in one of my middle east classes at NYU, and I just loved it. I never knew much about Libya except for what I read in the newspaper, and this was quite an eye opener. Deepened my interest in the Middle East immeasurably. And the opening line--a Libyan proverb--is astonishing in its simplicity and farsightedness. Great book.