AFRICOM, NATO and the 2011 War on Libya

Forte, Maximilian C.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_183-1

Maximilian C. Forte³

200 Accesses

Synonyms

2011 War; AFRICOM; Imperialism; Libya; Muammar Gaddafi; NATO; Neoliberalism

Definition

This essay argues that there is little to sustain a credible, logical justification for the 2011 war on Libya as being about human rights, and describes how this perspective suffers from a severe deficiency of empirical substantiation. Conversely, while oil was not insignificant, it was neither the sole concern nor the single determinant of the US-led war. In narrow terms, the imposition of a no-fly zone would serve as a gateway for military action designed to secure regime change, an objective pursued by the US since 1969. In broad terms, what was at stake in Libya was the strategic repositioning of the US in Africa, guided by economic interests and pursued through its new unified combatant command (AFRICOM), in developing a militarised neoliberal relationship with African states.

One of the more successful results of US information operations and public diplomacy during the March–October...

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Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Maximilian C. Forte

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Graduate Center for Worker Education, Brooklyn College, New York, NY, USA
Immanuel Ness
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Zak Cope

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Forte, M.C. (2020). AFRICOM, NATO and the 2011 War on Libya. In: Ness, I., Cope, Z. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_183-1

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_183-1
Received: 20 May 2020
Accepted: 20 May 2020
Published: 09 June 2020
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91206-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91206-6
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