Libya: Development Prospects and Challenges

{
  "authors": [
    "Michele Dunne"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "democracy",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "DCG",
  "programs": [
    "Democracy, Conflict, and Governance",
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North Africa",
    "Libya"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Democracy",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Other

Libya: Development Prospects and Challenges

Michele Dunne reports on how the low-level People’s Congress in Libya actually represents very little participation or power, and explains how the current system is too unwieldy and complicated to promote individual empowerment and accountability and that the real power of the Libyan government still rests with Omar Khadafi and a small circle of allies.

By Michele Dunne

Published on Jun 19, 2006

Program

Democracy, Conflict, and Governance

The Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is a leading source of independent policy research, writing, and outreach on global democracy, conflict, and governance. It analyzes and seeks to improve international efforts to reduce democratic backsliding, mitigate conflict and violence, overcome political polarization, promote gender equality, and advance pro-democratic uses of new technologies.

Learn More

Program

Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

Learn More

Source: World Bank Panel Discussion on Libya

Michele Dunne, editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin, participated in a June 19 World Bank panel discussion on Libya. She noted how the actual Libyan power structure exists separate and differs from the documented government structure. Dunne reported that the low-level People’s Congress actually represents very little participation or power, and explained how the current system is too unwieldy and complicated to promote individual empowerment and accountability and that the real power of the Libyan government still rests with Omar Khadafi and a small circle of allies.

Click here to watch video of the panel discussion.

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Recent Work

Research
Islamic Institutions in Arab States: Mapping the Dynamics of Control, Co-option, and Contention
- +6
  Yasmine Farouk, Nathan J. Brown, Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen, …
Research
From Hardware to Holism: Rebalancing America’s Security Engagement With Arab States
- +8
  Robert Springborg, Emile Hokayem, Becca Wasser, …

Political Reform Democracy Foreign Policy North Africa Libya

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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