When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Geopolitics

Libya After Gaddafi: End Of A 40-Year Saga, Start Of A Shaky Future

Analysis: A violent military demise was fitting for Gaddafi who ruled that way for four decades. But the war to oust him has decimated the nation, and divisions among Gaddafi opponents create uncertainty both for Libya's new leaders and Western p

Can Libya move on from its bloody past? (Abode of Chaos)
Can Libya move on from its bloody past? (Abode of Chaos)

Politically, Muammar Gaddafi had been dead for a long time. He had virtually no friends left in Liyba, or among world leaders. Even at the height of his powers, he was an embarrassment to other Arab nations. His followers in Libya, whether sincere or opportunistic, distanced themselves from him as it became clear over the past few months that, thanks to military support from NATO, the rebels were sure to topple him.

But until the end, fantasy played a bigger role for Gaddafi than reality. He hadn't been seen in public since National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters and tribal warriors from the western part of the country captured Libya's capital, Tripoli, on August 23. Despite that, he continued to broadcast messages from the underground that forces loyal to him – who, towards the end, were centered mostly in his hometown of Sirte – would soon be vanquishing the traitors.

The only thing he got right was the end of the Gaddafi legend that he spent a lifetime weaving. He would not capitulate; he would not emigrate; he would fight to his dying breath. He said it several times. His death – whether by a rebel bullet or from a NATO helicopter– is a much better end for everyone than his imprisonment.

The rebels must also be relieved. What would they have done with the fallen leader? Vindictive justice would not have been to the taste of the allies. A fair trial in Libya would have been virtually impossible, not just because there were too many bodies in too many closets, but because the chumminess Gaddafi exploited for so long with Western governments could not have been overlooked. There is a kind of historical justice in the fact that this former military officer, who ruled by military firepower for 42 years, should die by it too.

And now, following the fall of Sirte, the hour of truth has sounded for the transitional regime. The victory doesn't solve the problems -- they're just beginning.

Failure in so many ways

The NTC had already set a framework within which it would immediately move to create a government after the fighting stopped and Gaddafi was out of the way. It won't be easy. Too many different parties -- traditionalists and liberals, democrats and Islamists, deal makers and tribal leaders -- want a piece of the power, and of Libya's wealth. Success is very far from certain. And a lot is at stake for the country's Western supporters as well.

Gaddafi's negative legacy does give his successors a bit of a head start, however. The revolutionary leader failed at every single thing he touched in his political life. He tried Arab unity. He tried supporting anti-imperialist movements around the world. He turned to Black Africa. He armed his country to the hilt, commissioned ruinously expensive projects geared to shore up his own prestige. Bizarrely, he even tried forging his own political paths – and ingratiating himself with the West.

It all cost a great deal of money, but brought only a very mediocre standard of living to Libyans. Freedom, and developing civil society, were left by the wayside. So expectations are that much higher now. The Libyan people want to be able to enjoy the fruits of their oil riches.

But this Gaddafi "bonus' will go only so far for the new regime. After eight months of fighting, a large part of Libya's infrastructure has been destroyed. It's going to take years, not months, before the oil wells are up and running again the way they were before the war. The huge numbers of foreign experts and workers who fled because of the war, but who are necessary for a productive economy, are going to have to be successfully wooed back.

This all means that soon enough many Libyans will begin comparing now and then. And since everything can't be made better quickly, nostalgia will hit – first just as a mumble, but growing to publicly voiced criticism. After all, not every last one of Gaddafi's followers – and clients – will have disappeared in the quicksand of the dictator's overthrow.

The victorious rebels have often behaved like rank amateurs, both with their weapons – and with the truth. They did a lot of posturing, and shooting into the air. They learned about how to wage war only gradually, and they would have lost if they hadn't been supported by outside help. The rebels announced victories where they didn't exist, or sometimes before they had actually been secured.

Finally: the bill in terms of the human costs of the war still has to be tallied up. In a civil war, neither side abides by the Hague Conventions. Ally air cover was supposed to avoid a massacre and protect the population. But the so-called collateral damage was nevertheless considerable. This too has to be assessed. Friday is the first morning without Gaddafi in 40 years, and it's time now to take inventory in Libya.

Read the original article in German

photo - Abode of Chaos

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest