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Libya Takes Steps Toward Democracy

The Washington Post editorial board argues that Libya is making advances toward democracy. Libya “appears to be taking a couple steps toward a new democratic order for every step back.” Libya’s recent steps forward include the success of the interim government in registering 90 percent of the country’s eligible voters (47 percent of whom were women) for what would be the first election in 60 years. Successful local elections took place in both Benghazi and Misrata. Reports find that “daily life has mostly returned to normal” in these cities as well as in Tripoli. Oil production, the engine of Libya’s economy, has reached 90 percent of its pre-war level. While these advances are noteworthy, the country still faces hurdles to democratization. Libya’s future stability is threatened by the following: militia control over parts of the country; fighting between tribes and various ethnic groups; the threat of al-Qaeda seeking a foothold; and the influence of Abdel Hakim Belhadj’s militant Islamic political party gaining more support. The biggest potential setback in Libya’s democratic development is that the promised elections might be postponed. It is critical for Libya to meet the deadline for these elections because the sooner it has legitimate authorities in power, the sooner Libya can address the most important issues facing the country. The future elected officials “will be charged with writing a new constitution, appointing a new interim government and overseeing another election a year from now.”

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Why Libya Matters

Giulio Terzi writes about why Libya’s stability is in the interest of the entire international community and outlines the challenges in establishing a sustainable, democratic system. He argues that only through democratic governance can the demands and needs of the Libyan people be met. A stable Libya could also be a “positive agent for regional cooperation and integration.” Libya has already normalized and improved relations with its neighbors including Egypt, Tunisia and, recently Algeria. Terzi points out that “a democratic Libya, closely anchored to international Euro-Atlantic institutions, could become an important partner in the common fight against international terrorism, piracy, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.” Describing Libya as a “special case” because it’s oil rich, scarcely populated, and does not present immediate proclivity towards Islamic radicalism, he outlines the major challenges for Libya’s democratic transition, including holding elections and keeping the population secure. To tackle these challenges, Terzi calls on the international community to strengthen border security, invest in training and education programs for the country’s youth, and “integrate the new democratic Libya more closely with Euro-Atlantic institutions.”

Why Women Are a Foreign Policy Issue

"Please don't see us as victims, but look to us as the leaders we are," an Afghan woman activist said to Melanne Verveer, the U.S. State Department's ambassador at large for global women's issues. Verveer writes in this Foreign Policy op-ed that it is an absolute for economic prosperity and global peace and security that the world promotes the status of women.

"It's no coincidence that those countries that deny women basic human rights are some of the poorest and least stable. According to the World Economic Forum, countries where men and women are closer to enjoying equal rights are far more economically competitive than those where the gender gap has left women and girls with limited or no access to medical care, education, elected office, and the marketplace."

Caught in Egypt’s Political Cross-Fire

Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, writes in this editorial that Egypt's prosecution of democracy promotion employees, including NDI employees, made these people and groups "pawns in a bitter domestic power struggle over Egypt’s future, in which rival groups competed by appealing to anti-Americanism." Trager writes that, to prevent something similar from occurring again, the U.S. should condition future aid to Egypt on an agreement by all parties to ensure Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, counter violent extremism and uphold pluralism and minority rights.

"The fact that the Americans’ ordeal wasn’t really about them but about Egypt’s own internal power struggle leaves American interests in Egypt essentially unchanged."