In this volume, editor Dirk Vandewalle has assembled a group of scholars, who have spent a considerable amount of time working in Libya, to examine the political and socioeconomic progress of the Libyan government since Qadhafi assumed power in 1969. By focusing on the contradictions between the regime's rhetoric and the realities of day-to-day life, the authors' depiction of Qhadafi's Libya is colored by the tensions and inconsistencies that exist between the aspirations of this self-styled revolutionary state and its complete dependence on the international economy for survival. The availability of massive oil revenues has allowed the Qadhafi government to engage in an experiment of popular management of the country's political and economic structures. Unfortunately, this governmental experiment is unlikely to outlive the Libyan leader. Through the work of these scholars the internal workings of the Qadhafi government are viewed in a new light and the future of the country is seen more clearly. Qadhafi's Libya, 1969-1994 is a fresh and enlightening look at this highly volatile country and its charismatic leader.

The Libyan Jamahiriyya since 1969 / Dirk Vandewalle -- Qadhafi's ideological framework / Francois Burgat -- Teaching the revolution: Libyan education since 1969 / Taoufik Monastiri -- The rise and fall of the revolutionary committees / Hanspeter Mattes -- In search of sacred law: the meandering course of Qadhafi's legal policy / Ann Elizabeth Mayer -- Qadhafi's Islam in local historical perspective / George Jeoffe ́-- Institutional development in Qadhafi's Libya / Omar I. El Fathaly and Monte Palmer -- Creating a new state: Libya's political institutions / Moncef Djaziri -- The failure of liberalization in the Jamahiriyya / Dirk Vandewalle -- Qadhafi's legacy: an evaluation of a political experiment / Lisa Anderson.