ABSTRACT
Several conclusions about present-day Libya are immediately apparent. Foremost among them is the centrality of Qadhafi to the country’s political, social, and economic systems. Without Qadhafi, Libya would clearly be a different country. Yet despite Qadhafi’s reorganization of Libyan society and the significant postrevolution improvements in social welfare benefits and standard of living, it is evident that the Libyan revolution has failed to achieve its major goals. The Libyan people continue to respond half-heartedly to Qadhafi’s revolutionary philosophy, the world has not accepted him as a great political and economic thinker, the Arabs have rejected his efforts to “unify by force,” a Palestinian state has not replaced Israel, and the West has not been punished for its colonialist arrogance.
