The Arab Spring: Building Developmental States

Libya has officially begun the transition to the post-revolutionary era, something nicely underlined by the Transnational National Council's relocation to the newly-freed capital city of Tripoli, where they held their first press conference today.

Despite its small demographic size -- Libya has a population of 7 million, smaller than Tunisia's 10 million and much smaller than Egypt's 84 million -- the success of Libya's revolution will have far-reaching consequences for the entire region. The reason is that both Tunisia and Egypt
have economies deeply damaged by Euro-American neoliberalism and indigenous comprador elites. However, Libya has $150 billion in foreign exchange reserves, plus one-quarter of Africa's energy reserves. A free, democratic Libya is precisely the financial motor the North African region urgently needs.

All the initial signs are promising. The freedom fighters have done a remarkable job in avoiding unnecessary bloodshed and revenge attacks, and have moved quickly to re-establish civic security and stability. Most neighborhoods in Tripoli now have checkpoints, excess weapons are being collected, and electricity, internet and cellphone access have been almost fully restored. There are still isolated firefights with the remnants of Qaddafi's militias, but the vast majority of the city is secure.

Tripoli's extensive cadre of civil servants, engineers and professionals can now begin to reconstruct the country. Libya's financial and energy resources, its newfound sense of national unity and purpose, and competent political leadership could spark an unprecedented economic boom. Libya, Tunisia and Egypt could conceivably form a "growth triangle" which will be one of the two key economic motors of the Middle East (the other is AKP-led Turkey, one of Eurasia's fastest-growing developmental states).
 This isn't to say there won't be missteps along the way. Author Hisham Matar has this timely essay on the challenges of building a post-Qaddafi Libya.

Also, check out this portal of Arabic-language rap music, which will hopefully expand in the near future.

UPDATE: Twitter posts say Mohammed Bin Lamin, the brilliant Misurata artist whose work was mentioned in a previous post, has been freed (along with thousands of others) from the notorious Abu Salim prison.