THE LIBYAN INTERVENTION: LEGITIMACY AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE ‘RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT’ DOCTRINE

Abstract

The potency of the phrase „The Arab Spring‟ remains undiminished by its over-use since a young Tunisian man, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire on 18 December 2010. In much the same way as the domino effect of the fall of the Berlin Wall, references to the Arab Spring provide a short-hand description of the wave of public demonstrations and violent reprisals that have occurred, and continue to occur, across the entire Middle East. The fall-out of these events have also spread beyond the region; for instance, the coup d’etat in Mali (21 March 2012) and even the protests attendant upon the presidential election of Vladimir Putin in Russia have all been ascribed to this climatic event. Crucially, the Arab Spring has also resulted in the adjustment and re-alignment of global politics and alliances. No better example of this is provided by the undignified scramble by US politicians on both sides of the political divide to sunder their long-standing political, economic and military support of the regime of Egypt‟s Murbarak. And, ultimately, it has required western powers to attempt reconciliation with political Islam, or at the least, with the alleged „moderate‟ powers of the Islamic Brotherhood, who appear to have achieved their long-sought political ambitions through the ballot box.