Associate Professor Dirk Vandewalle is an expert on modern Libya. (photo by Joseph Mehling ’69)
Dirk Vandewalle wrote the book on modern Libya and is acutely aware of potential pitfalls for the country now that Muammar Gaddafi’s regime has fallen. Yet he is hopeful for the future.
Writing for Newsweek, he says, “Can Libya’s new leaders translate their military victory into winning the larger battle ahead—that of building a country whose political, social, and economic principles will be completely antithetical to those that have guided Libya for 42 years? In answering that question, we can allow ourselves some cautious optimism.“
Vandewalle, associate professor of government at Dartmouth, is the author of A History of Modern Libya (2006; second edition forthcoming in early 2012). He has been a sought-after expert providing commentary to multiple international news outlets since the unrest in Libya began in February.
Read the full story, published by Newsweek on 08/29/11.