Abstract:
The uprising and revolt against authoritarian leaders in the Middle East and North Africa spearheaded and inspired protests among Libyans demanding for greater freedom which led to the collapse and overthrown of Gaddafi’s 42 year regime. The U.S. – NATO led military and humanitarian involvement and campaign gave much support to the rebel fighters and the NTC. This study x-rays the role(s) played by U.S in the Libyan revolution, and how it led to the demise of Gaddafi’s regime. To achieve the objective of this study, we raised the following research questions. Firstly, what motivated U.S. interest in the Libyan crisis. Secondly, to what extent did U.S involvement led to the collapse of Gaddafi’s regime? Finally, what has been the impact of the collapse of Gaddafi regime on the political economy of the Libyan state? This study will rely on qualitative method of data collection which involves the use of secondary sources of data, and adopts the political economy approach for its theoretical analysis. This gives primacy to material and economic condition as the main determinant of political and organizational process of a society. After much appraisal of the available data, the study reveals that; oil is the trophy of U.S – NATO led war on Libya, and that U.S involvement led to the ousting of Gaddafi’s regime. However, the regime change in Libya has brought participatory democracy and the end of authoritarian and tyrannical rule.
