NATO's Failure in Libya: Lessons for Africa

Preface

vi Africa Institute of South Africa Preface ‘We must fight to save the Euro’. – Nicholas Sarkozy ‘The European experiment is of no use to us … the area known as North Africa should be Africanised. Either it will become a part of Africa or it will be an anomaly, and will therefore have no future. ‘As an inhabitant of North Africa, I have always rejected the Barcelona agreement which regards North Africa as part of the Middle East, with a vocation to integrate with Europe. This is a conspiracy against the integrity of Africa. ‘They have said to me the Barcelona agreement and cooperation with the European Union will be to Libya’s advantage. They want to draw us in and to make use of us, through the Barcelona agreement, to dismember the African continent, stealing North Africa to make it join with the European Union. This is unacceptable. In any case, look at what has already become of the Barcelona agreement. It is in a comatose condition and could well disappear’. – Muammar Gaddafi, speech in July 2001 at the opening of the African Union ‘If the Libyan war was about saving lives, it was a catastrophic failure’. – Seumas Milne ...