Gaddafi and global political currents

The killing of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi ends the Libyan people's prolonged, nightmarish suffering which came in the wake of the months-long political unrest in that country and gives them a welcome opportunity to start anew, in terms of crafting a polity that would be in tune with their political aspirations. While the killing of Gaddafi brings to a close decades-long authoritarian rule in Libya, we consider it inappropriate to pass any value judgments on the current ground-breaking political developments in Libya, in view of the fact most such events pertain to the internal politics of the country concerned.

The uprising in Libya arose against the backdrop of the momentous 'Arab Spring' which could be seen as essentially springing from mass-based frustration over the non-fulfillment of some of the most pressing needs of the people concerned. This phenomenon, apparently, is not only confined to the Middle East because this species of public unrest is spreading to some of the hitherto most powerful Western economies, with the New York, anti-Wall Street protests currently grabbing the headlines.

Coincidentally, the unrest in the West is corresponding with a general decline in the economic fortunes of that part of the world. The ills affecting less powerful economies of the West, such as those of Greece and Portugal, are infiltrating more and more Western economies and we would not be wrong in taking the position that the current wave of public unrest is essentially based on economic factors.

The cataclysmic recent, prolonged, youth-based violence in Britain which shocked not only Britain but the rest of the world was really a rude awakening for the current international economic order, although it was not seen in that light by the world community. It had a message which should have been responded to with some perceptiveness of the socio-economic realities of our times but this has not happened to the desired degree. Current developments in Libya should be seen as manifestations of the socio-economic inequities of our age, which are, apparently, being glossed over by many of those who matter.

Accordingly, sections of the international community cannot really gloat over the way in which the unrest in Libya has apparently ended, although the Libyan people, as said before, are now provided an opportunity to carve out their political future afresh. A situation where the legitimate rights of the people are being flouted cannot be condoned and it is for this reason that we believe that a new window of opportunity is opening for the people of Libya, which must be used most judiciously by them. They cannot, for instance, be prevailed upon by any external quarter to determine their political future in this or that direction. This is a task for entirely the Libyan people and the latter's sovereignty must be fully respected.

Besides, it would be in the interests of the Libyan people for all outside military and political forces to steer clear of Libya from now on. It is up to the progressive forces in Libya to ensure that their country does not become a pawn in the hands of this or that power or powers.

But the current political convulsions centred on the Arab world cannot be viewed complacently by the rest of the world community. Whereas authoritarianism and totalitarianism cannot be seen as suitable political options, the need is great to restructure the global economic order to ensure that 'fruits' of growth percolate down to the masses of the world. This is not happening adequately and it is time that a collective effort is made by the international community to ensure that humankind has a more equitable economic order.

It needs to be seen by all those who matter that the neo-liberal economic order has not benefited the peoples of the world, to the desired degree. Some 30 or more years into economic liberalization we find that 'market reforms' are not proving very effective. A just economic order must be made the focus of a global debate and remedies quickly arrived at.