Understanding Libya: How the country’s past shapes its present instability

From colonial manipulation to post-Gaddafi collapse, Libya’s crisis is rooted in historical divisions

Originally published on Global Voices

A 1766 view of the city of Tripoli from Biblioteca del Museo di Storia naturale e dell'Acquario civico di Milano on Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. 

By Osama Qatrani

To understand Libya’s present-day crisis, one must first consider the historical, geographical, and ethnic foundations that predate the modern state. Before 1951, there was no unified entity called Libya.