The
topic that my paper is the Arab Spring in Libya and the transition of
government that took place. I want to look at the popular uprising and examine
the sequence of events that lead to the legitimate overthrowing of the state in
Libya. My focus will be on when and how the international community got
involved and legally recognized the rebels as a legitimate power and decided
that Qadhafi was no longer the legitimate head of state.
The question that I
try to answer is when did the Libyan regime stop being the legitimate
government of Libya? I have not formed a solid argument that tries to answer
that question, but my tentative answer and argument would be that they stopped
being legitimate when the U.S. and coalition forces decided to support the
rebel forces. After decades of Qadhafi being recognized as legitimate and after
the tentative alliance that was struck between Libya and the U.S. (the war on
terror), the U.S. sided with the rebels through military intervention and
diplomacy.
Sources
Libya Herald. "Learning from
Tunisian and Egyptian Arab Spring experiences."
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/04/06/learning-from-tunisian-and-egyptian-arab-spring-experiences-part-three-economics/.
Cornell University Library Guides at
Cornell University. "Libya - Arab Spring: A Research & Study Guide
Cornell University Library Guides at Cornell University."
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=259276&sid=2163152.
The Wall Street Journal. "Libya
and the Arab Spring - WSJ.com."
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424053111903461304576524701611118090.
Washington Post. "Libyan rebels
renew hopes of Arab Spring."
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-08-22/world/35269476_1_libyan-rebels-arab-syrians.
YaleGlobal Online Magazine.
"Winners And Losers After Arab Spring."
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/winners-and-losers-after-arab-spring.
I think your topic is very interesting. I think it might be interesting to investigate the internal vs external sovereignty in Syria. Either way be sure you're explicit in defining which concept of sovereignty you are claiming was violated by backing the rebels, possibly both. It may be interesting to look at other case studies with similar circumstances, ie civil war with rebels, to see when other particular governments lost their sovereignty, since there is not a set rule distinguishing when sovereignty is lost. This also may lead to more scholarly sources since Syria is such a recent event.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a great topic here. Arab Springs is a current topic. Libya is currently undergoing political reconstruction, and is governed under an interim constitution drawn up by the National Transitional Council (NTC). Elections to a General National Congress were held on 7 July 2012, and the NTC handed power to the newly elected assembly on 8 August. The Congress has the responsibility of forming an assembly to draft a permanent constitution for Libya, which will then be put to a referendum. I think it is important to define in your paper what your own definition of sovereignty is and what makes a state truly sovereign, because one may define it differently than you. Overall, great proposal!
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