Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2014

 

Geopolitics, Nationalism and Libya's Nation Building

(Abstract)

 

Han Zhibin

 

Inquiry into Libya’s nation-building indicates that the country was "created" by the United Nations as a result of the interaction of geopolitics and nationalism. Libya has always been a site contested by different civilizations. Starting in the nineteenth century, with the support of the Ottoman Empire, Sanusi religious nationalism gained strength. The Italian invasion of Libya catalyzed the Arab nationalist movement in Tripolitania and the establishment of the Republic. Although nationalist elites played an important role, the influence of the country's inherent historical and cultural complexities meant that it was the external impact of the great powers that had the greater role in the process of Libya’s nation-building. On the question of how to deal with the Libyan issue, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, the Soviet Union and others played a game of strategy, coming up with plans that included carving up the country among the powers, collective trusteeship, UN trusteeship and an independent Libya, reflecting the balance of interests and multiple conflicts among the powers. The inherent problems of building a nation-state were not fundamentally settled by the establishment of the United Kingdom of Libya, and their historical effects continue to be visible in the changeable situation in the Arab Middle East.