Lessons from Libya

One authoritarian Maghreb government after another has come under pressure since December, none more so than that of Muammar Gadhafi since February 15.

While Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak quickly wilted in front of pro-democracy crowds and perhaps their private scruples, Gadhafi has, by some reports, shelled his cities with naval gunfire and artillery, unleashed “African mercenaries” and deployed fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships against protesters.

Since then dozens of countries, including South Africa, have been scrambling to rescue hundreds of thousands of citizens caught up in the chaotic violence; in what is certainly one of the larger mass evacuations in recent history.

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