Libya and the West

"This book provides an overview of Libya's modern history through the perspective of Libyan - Western relations. Tracing Libya's history from the Barbary Wars to the present day, it explains how Libya came to play an outsized role in world affairs during the 20th and 21st century. The book takes readers through Italy's conquest and colonization of Libya, the Allied liberation of Libya from the Axis during World War II, the birth of an independent Libya, Libya's stance towards the Arab - Israeli conflict, the Libyan revolution of 1969, the rise of Muammar al-Qaddafi, Libyan sponsorship of terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s, Libya's rapprochement with the west in the early 2000s, the outbreak of the Libyan Revolution in 2011, and the rise of ISIS in Libya. Each chapter presents a series of questions and answers that explain how Libya, its people, and its leaders faced the challenges of international relations and state building in the 20th and 21st centuries. The foreign policies of successive United States presidential administrations towards Libya, from Franklin D. Roosevelt through Joseph R. Biden, are discussed. Readers interested in Libya's history, the history of the Middle East, or histories of U.S. foreign policy will find this book an excellent primer on how Libyans and the leaders of Italy, Great Britain, the United States, and France navigated complex relationships with Libya"--