Derna was a beautiful seaside town, built on the ruins of a Greek colony by Spanish Muslims in the late 15th century. It was home to Libya’s first movie theater, dozens of religious buildings, cafes, and bookstores. It was a town rich with culture and intellectual vitality. But the physical evidence of that is now […]
Tag: Libya
Libya: Going Green
Currently The internet will tell you that a bullet wound could heal within no more than two weeks, barring any tissue or bone damage. But one can imagine some degree of psychological trauma contributing further to a healing process. Consider the cause for bullets flying to begin with and the timeline continues to extend. Dozens […]
Embracing Nationalism in East Africa
On September 16th outside of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, leaders of the once exiled Oromo Liberation Front gathered. Scores of supporters came to show their support, and they had not forgotten one thing: the other ethnic tribes in the region were the ones that had displaced them. Some of the supporters began attacking non-Oromo people, […]
Lost in Transit: Sub-Saharan Migrants in Libya
Kalilu Drammeh, an 18-year-old Gambian Muslim, was not welcome in Libya. His skin color distinguished him from the Libyan population, as well as from the Arab and Berber refugees from elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. On his journey to the Mediterranean, smugglers singled him out for verbal and physical abuse. In Libya, […]
AUMF 2015 and the War on ISIL
There is a common refrain in American politics when politicians discuss taking military action in foreign countries. “[insert country of interest here] is going to be another Afghanistan… another Iraq… another Vietnam.” In Vietnam, what began with light air support and humanitarian aid lead to deployment of “advisors,” who invariably were involved in firefights, escalating […]
Falling Forward: The Ramifications of Libya’s Oil Crisis
Oil has fueled the Libyan economy for years, but major clashes between political factions within the nation have produced disastrous consequences for the once lucrative oil industry. Oil was first discovered in Libya in 1959, and the nation became a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shortly thereafter in 1962. Ever […]
Libya & Leaving The Fortress
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2013 print edition, which can be found here. On September 11th and 12th 2012, US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were slain at a diplomatic villa and a nearby security compound in Benghazi, Libya. The murder of Ambassador Stevens was the first successful assassination of […]