Chaos in Libya Continues

Perhaps no one is surprised that the chaos in Libya has escalated to the point where the nation looks to be on the brink of a civil war. The stage has been set from the beginning. The characters – an autocratic dictator obsessed with maintaining power, an army loyal to him, rival factions each vying to fill the power vacuum, and of course, the idealistic student protesters martyred for their dreams of a better future. Perhaps the situation in the Middle East and in Libya in particular is proof of the old saying, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

But what has been happening also shows a powerful trend in world politics today. Some of the world’s most corrupt in autocratic governments are facing, for the first time, true challenges from within. They are facing the very kind of revolution that Marx initially wrote about – one of the people rising up against an autocratic regime that has suppressed them for too long.

Yet revolt in Libya faces a kind of violence not seen anywhere else in recent weeks. Indeed, Gaddafi has ordered the army to bomb his own people and the army is accommodating. They remain firmly under his control, unlike in Egypt where the army turned on the government itself. Perhaps then, democracy has a better chance of surviving in Egypt, a better chance of taking root through peaceful protest. In Libya, what began as a movement of solidarity against Gaddafi is escalating very quickly to what seems to be a civil war. Libyan leaders are choosing sides and the west, unsure of who will emerge victorious, sit back and do nothing to protect the hundreds who are killed daily by a leader who has shown time and time again that he will do anything to stay in power.

For now, all the people of Libya can do is wait and hope and all families can do is mourn for those who dared to dream of a better future.

While Al Jazeera had this to say about the situation in Libya:

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/03/2011336535465973.html

The New York Times took a different approach, highlighting what little the international community has done in recent days to show their support for the protesters

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/world/africa/04hague.html?_r=1&ref=world

Authoritarianism at its best

The conflict in the Middle East makes everyone nervous. The United States has failed to take a distinctive stance on what’s going on while other nations don’t seem to want to support either side. But one nation has gone further than others. In a recent report by the Washington Post, it is reveled that China, in an attempt to control its population and ensure that similar unrest doesn’t explode on its territory, has extended government control of the media. Fearful of its authority, the Chinese government has ensured that certain terms and ideas cannot be searched for on the internet. The Chinese government has taken several steps to ensure that websites that might, in some way, be inflammatory or incite rebellion have now been blocked.

Unfortunately for China, this is how all the rebellions in the Middle East began – with the banning of social media and internet communications. Only time will tell if the rebellion will spread to China and how the Chinese government will use this, whether as defense of its autocratic ways or to make China more open to outside influences.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/25/AR2011022502151.html