New York- In the final part of the Gaddafi story by Noiser Podcasts, the colonel meets his ignominious end just outside Sirte during the fever pitch of the so-called Arab Spring in October 2011. A decade on, it’s hard not to wince at the use of the word spring which to me connotes some form of hopefulness while with the noted exception of Tunisia, the Arab Spring was an unmitigated disaster for the countries affected by the overthrow of calcified secular autocracies.
In that wretched chaos that has engulfed Libya, Yemen, Syria, and to a far lesser extent Egypt, the Arab Spring protests-turned-revolutions were an overwhelming net loss. Libya today, despite plans for democratic elections at the end of this year is more fragmented than ever before with mercenaries reportedly running amok. There is no-telling whether the UN-fostered Government of National Unity attempted to unite the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord with Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army has any chance of working.
