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Multilateral Foreign Policy > Published by Luke Bozier, October 20th 2011 at 4:43 pm

Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next?

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Eleven years in to the 21st century, and liberal intervention is coming of age. The policy, which owes a lot to former Labour leader Tony Blair, while often controversial, is a vital element in the success of Libya’s revolution.

Colonel-Muammar-Gaddafi-dead-dead-deadBe under no illusion: Gaddafi would still be on his throne today, throttling his countryfolk, were it not for the laser-like military interventions of Britain, France and America in support of the rebel movement.

Today we learned that Colonel Gaddafi is dead. Gruesome photos and videos are all over the web; he was found, ironically after calling his people ‘rats’, in a concrete pipe underground waving around a golden gun (where was James Bond I ask?!).

The Libyans who captured him took justice into their own hands, and for right or wrong, ended Gaddafi’s life in a highly symbolic move.

The message is clear; dictators are no longer immune from demise. They’re not immune because people have now witnessed what revolutionary movements can achieve if they keep pushing through the fog of repression. The West, often seen as hypocritical and self-interested where it applies its military might, has been shown to be willing to act where it can in support of indigenous movements for serious change.

It’s been demonstrated, in the best way possible, that military intervention can happen and succeed, without an Iraq-style full-scale invasion. The new paradigm has been underscored by Gaddafi’s downfall, brought about by a rebel movement supported by Western military force.

So looking around the region and perhaps the world, we should ask who is next. Which dictator has outlived his welcome? The obvious answers lie in the Middle East. Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad is clinging on to power quite remarkably. Despite killing thousands of his own citizens (in the name of law and order, apparently), he is still de fact ruler of Syria. He seems to be particularly difficult to get rid of.

Blocked by Russia and China on the UN Security Council, the West can do very little overtly at the moment, but attention should be focused on what assets the West can use now to support the nascent Syrian uprising.

Further afield, Yemen’s President is also due an exit shortly. Perhaps he’ll be smart and go of his own free will, lest Yemen witness similar scenes to Libya today.

Beyond the Middle East there are sticky dictators hanging on to power in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in Asia, and Robert Mugabe, Omar Bashir and Idriss Deby in Africa. Robert Mugabe succeeded in seeing off something of a revolutionary movement at the last election in Zimbabwe; perhaps at the next election there will be a flash point which could end his decades-long rule.

Whichever dictator falls next, I’m sure many of them will be paying attention to today’s events in Libya. They might get their passports and cash stashes ready ‘just in case’. They’d be wise to stand down and get out of the way of the destinies of their peoples.

Democracy belongs to every man; dictatorships are a dying breed, and sooner or later they will all be extinct.

See also:

• Gaddafi is dead. Long live Libya – Shamik Das, October 20th 2011

• Syrian Uprising: YouTube clips show continued demonstrations after Hama massacre – Daniel Elton, August 1st 2011

• Situation deteriorates in Yemen, while tension builds in Syria – Dominic Browne, June 7th 2011

• Syria, where innocence is no defence – Dominic Browne, June 1st 2011

• Syria: Footage from the frontline – Dominic Browne, May 10th 2011

• Syria: A nation bloody but defiant – Dominic Browne, May 6th 2011

• Wave of unrest spreads to Syria – Seph Brown, March 19th 2011

  • http://twitter.com/malanesi/status/127063202260467712 Mohammed Al-Anesi

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next?
    http://t.co/cRQmcEjd
    #Gaddafi #Libya #Yemen #Syria

  • http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/127088698230714369 Shamik Das

    Our articles on #Libya: My thoughts on the death of #Gaddafi http://t.co/0vHTwCIV & @LukeBozier on which dictator’s nxt http://t.co/Xo3NNDE5

  • http://twitter.com/sara0075/status/127099416002826240 sara

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? | Left Foot Forward http://t.co/TkZLk8xA

  • http://twitter.com/bennlla/status/127103018704453632 Benla

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? | Left Foot Forward http://t.co/TkZLk8xA

  • http://twitter.com/andrew_howell/status/127115860098809856 Andy Howell

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? http://t.co/0KVH47kj via @zite

  • http://twitter.com/northernwalker/status/127123566452936704 Matt Hobley

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? http://t.co/0KVH47kj via @zite

  • http://twitter.com/syrian_patriot/status/127137154651525120 سوري حر

    Eleven years in to the 21st century, and liberal intervention is coming of age. The policy, which owes a lot to… http://t.co/hYXivlwa

  • http://twitter.com/syriannewsen/status/127173687693680641 Syrian News English

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who's next? – Left Foot Forward: Globe and MailGaddafi has unde… http://t.co/QZi1ITCB #Syria

  • http://twitter.com/libyaops/status/127225217218121729 Niku

    Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? http://t.co/xVw562HL

  • http://twitter.com/june4th/status/127303549473406976 Noxi

    RT @leftfootfwd: Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? http://t.co/kaQFDkQw asks @LukeBozier #Gaddafi #Libya #FreeLibya

  • Ash

    Seriously? A photograph of a fresh corpse and a headline asking ‘who’s next’? What is this, Rambo 5?

  • Rob the crip

    No it Luke a Blair-ite who will say and do anything to give his master praise, he’s from new labour, they are we hope on the way out.

    A person dies gets shot in the head, we are hearing a large number of children were on the convoy with a lot of mothers, I suspect Bozier will say well that’s war.

    Now we have factions with Iraq and with in Egypt and Libya we will see what comes of this lot and how much democracy they get.

    As for Blair his address book of mates it’s getting much shorter.

  • John Jackson

    “Who’s next”, indeed ?

    Maybe, as the author suggests, it might be the turn of the despot, Mugabe; although, if so, it seems highly unlikely that it will come about as a consequence of any great “liberal intervention” (?!) emanating from ‘The West’.
    No, thus far, ‘The West’ (including this nation) does not seem to be unduly troubled by Mugabe’s continuing persecution of his people – might that be because there is no OIL that we could possibly ‘LIBERATE’ also ?

    And I notice that the article fails to mention North Korea among it’s list of dictatorships and nations with a history of human rights abuse ?
    Might that be possibly because they would be more inclined and much better placed to defend themselves ?

    I am no supporter of despots or dictators and certainly no apologist for butchers like Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein; and I am glad that the people of Libya and Iraq are now free of those particular tyrants.
    (** ‘Liberal interventionists’ AND ‘right-wing knee jerk reactionaries’ may wish to read that particular sentence more than once just to make sure they have fully assimilated both the content and the context. **)

    However, unlike the author of this article, I am prepared to state that I believe the killing of Gadaffi was WRONG – as I believe the taking of any human life as a matter of choice is wrong. He should have been placed on trial for the alleged crimes against his people and, if found guilty, incarcerated. That action would have served as a far greater warning to depots and dictators the world over, particularly to those (and their supporters) who perceive such an end as martyrdom.

    Unfortunately, of course any such trial would likely have proven deeply embarrassing for the governments of many of the ‘liberal interventionist’ nations of ‘the West’ – particularly to those of the UK and the USA – that have been arming and supporting these despotic regimes for decades !!

    Whilst you may consider me naive for holding this point of view, I am not so naive as to fail to notice the author’s attempt – on an almost subliminal level – to rewrite history; to justify the illegal war in Iraq; and, more specifically, to sanitise the mendacious, duplicitous and self-serving conduct of Mr. Tory B. Liar during that shameful period in this great nations history.

    I am afraid, Mr Bozier, that when a person has that much childrens’ blood on their hands, it takes more than ALL the dollar bills from the vaults of Goldman Sachs to wipe them clean !!

    I wish the people of Libya and Iraq every good fortune in rebuilding their nations.

  • http://twitter.com/yasboogie/status/127354880468852737 Yasin Gregg

    Dictators & demise RT @June4th RT @leftfootfwd: Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? http://t.co/DQJ5HkUk asks @LukeBozier

  • Rob the crip

    It would be great to think Libya and Iraq would end up with no poverty, all living in peace, it would be the first time in a very long history, but I suspect the UK will not want any of these leaders alive. Blair was seen praising this clown and kissing him telling us he was a great leader, mind you he had BP contracts with him

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/10/daniel-kawczynski-colonel-muammar-gaddafi-libya-money/ “Seeking Gaddafi” Tory MP demands Libya pay us back for their liberation | Left Foot Forward

    [...] also: • Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? – Luke Bozier, October 20th [...]

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/10/death-of-a-tyrant-colonel-muammar-gaddafi-dead/ Death of a tyrant: How the Libyan people responded to the end of Gaddafi | Left Foot Forward

    [...] also: • Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; who’s next? – Luke Bozier, October 20th [...]

  • Paul

    I wont mourn gaddafi but neither will I jump on this bloodlust bandwagon the Western leaders are hypocrites and as for Cameron conveniently forgetting that the USA also funded the IRA he should remember the innocent lybians Nato has been killing.
    The writer of this shit should just FUCK OFF.

  • Tony

    I thought they are waiting to bury him because Blair needs to get there. As far as who is next BLAIR, JACK STRAW and the gang would be good

  • james

    Oil rich countries are almost reached by the western world.they have no interest if there is no oil,Mynmar under martial rule for many decade has no sight of west.Gaddafi a great leader of the middle east has been torn apart by own brothers who has been misleaded by WEST!> EASTERN UNION NOW!! Not NATO.

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/10/look-left-21-10-11/ Look Left – Libya, a nation reborn | Left Foot Forward

    [...] the question of who’s next, then, and, as Luke Bozier wrote on Left Foot Forward yesterday: “The obvious answers lie in the Middle East. Syria’s President [...]

  • Abdulrashid nigeria

    Frm ALLAH we are nd frm him we shall return.gaddafi may ur soul rest in peace amin,hell with nato nd the rest.nato wait and see d end of ur country.we are ready,we will be praying to Allah to demolish ur country,stupid american nd people without humanity

  • julian

    is this a right wing website that i,ve come to? the authors awfully awful..!

  • Irene Costa

    esta es una situación mucho mas compleja de como la informan. Hay que mirar y pensar en la geopolitica, el mundo FMI, EEUU, Europa , el capitalismo salvaje, China, Rusia. Sobre todas las cosas, …. el Petroleo, los alimentos y si existen todavias la utopias para todos.cariños. Irene Costa desde Argentina.

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/10/look-left-%e2%80%93-cameron%e2%80%99s-euroscepticism-comes-home-to-roost/ Look Left – Cameron’s Euroscepticism comes home to roost | Left Foot Forward

    [...] the events that followed have yet to be clarified it is clear Gadaffi was shot dead by what appear to be rebel forces, despite conspiracy theories to the contrary. As NATO draws its [...]

  • http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/12/look-left-23-12-11/ Look Left – Look back at the year | Left Foot Forward

    [...] Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; Who’s next? Luke Bozier, October [...]

  • http://twitter.com/lukebozier/status/153115701555625987 Luke Bozier

    #LFFMostRead2011: #1: Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; Who’s next? http://t.co/apwZP3Dk by @LukeBozier, October 20th

  • http://twitter.com/lukebozier/status/153115701555625987 Luke Bozier

    #LFFMostRead2011: #1: Gaddafi has underscored the new paradigm; Who’s next? http://t.co/apwZP3Dk by @LukeBozier, October 20th

  • A.S.

    This article is absolute trash and looks more like Neocon rhetoric than a genuine left-wing perspective. The West has been shown “willing to act in support of indigenous movements for serious change” precisely because of its hypocrisy. Are you quietly forgetting how the Libyan invasion served Western interests vis-a-vis oil and co-opting the Arab Spring movement by giving support to discredited organisations such as the National Transition Council and (in Egypt) Omar Suleman and former regime officials, while marginalising truly revolutionary voices? Are you quietly forgetting that in Libya the forces you say wanted “serious change” were also barbarically committing war crimes (including the torture/murder of black people labeled ‘mercenaries’ and Gadaffi’s forces), not to mention the significant casualty figure of the military adventure in Libya. Are you forgetting that while the West and the newly-aggressive Qatari regime were supporting military intervention in Libya, they were providing Saudi Arabia and Bahrain with support in murdering protesters? The West is still hypocritical and has no right to any sort of military intervention in the non-Western world. Your article is a disgraceful whitewashing of the facts.