The Afro-European Report
Revisionism and Reparations in Libya
2008-09-08
By Mathias Ntep

With Condoleeza Rice’s much-publicized visit to Libya, it looks as if the U.S. is going to turn over a new leaf in its ties with the African country it once called a pariah.  Less well publicized is that the visit follows an amazing “colonization compensation” agreement with Italy – Libya’s former colonial master – that looks remarkably like the reparations some people have called for in the United States.

But first, Rice’s visit to Libya, which of course, was not really about Libya at all:

The Secretary of State was in Libya primarily to show North Korea and Iran that the U.S. is ready to resume cooperation with any country that ditches and scraps its nuclear program, and that the U.S. isn´t arbitrarily down on some countries. Paula De Sutter, Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance and Implementation made it clear: “The Secretary´s visit is going to be a huge demonstration of the fact that by changing behavior, a country can change the nature of a relationship.”

In addition, she wants to officially and publicly pave the way for an expansion of  cooperation in the trade, investment, political, cultural and security areas between the two countries. That´s why the White House stated that Rice´s trip was opening a “new chapter” in the relationships between the U.S. and Libya. Dana Perino, President Bush´s press secretary explained: "By improving our relations with Libya, we will enable expansion of bilateral cooperation in a number of areas, including education and culture, commerce, science and technology, and most certainly security and human rights."

For his part, Moumar Qaddafi opined: “The whole business of conflict between Libya and the United States has been closed once and for all. There will be no more wars, raids or acts of terrorism.”

The State Department , once again, is confirming the old axiom that there are no permanent enemies, just permanent interests.

But, as with recent policy changes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Bush Administration, by it actions,  is admitting that Barack Obama´s doctrine of direct diplomacy just might actually make sense.  Libya’s progress due to enegagement, in fact, would appear to be a major rejection of the reactionary, hardliner  stands of John McCain. If the Saddam Hussein of the 80s can turn into the Tony Blair of the new millennium, then what else might be possible?

Meanwhile Silvio Berlusconi of Italy seems to be learning a similar lesson.

The Italian Prime Minister and Qaddafi patched up a decades old colonial feud, crafting a free and mutual agreement that will put Italy in a position to compensate Libya for colonizing the North-African country from 1911 through 1943.
 
Berlusconi announced that his country would offer Libya 3.4 billion euros – 5 billion dollars – over the next 25 years for pains and worries inflicted on Libyans during the Italian occupation and colonization that lasted more than three decades. In his words: “The agreement will be about 200 million US$ each year during the next 25 years under the guise of investments in infrastructure projects in Libya.”

He added: “The agreement is designed to put an end to 40 years of misunderstanding. It´s a thorough and moral acknowledgement of any damage, injury and harm meted out to Libya by Italy during the colonial era. “

According to the agreement, Italy will fund the construction of a freeway from Tunisia through Libya to Egypt. Furthermore, Italy will finance the development of housing in Libya, grant scholarships to Libyan students studying in Italy, and pay damages to those maimed by landmines laid by Italians during the colonial era.
Libya pledged, as quid pro quo, to intensify its fight against terrorism and to stem the flow of non-traditional migrants who often invade Italian coasts.

But does Italy’s relationship in Libya open up the door to other European nations – particularly those instrumental in the international slave trade - to  start looking for other ways to compensate the formerly colonized in other places around the globe?

The French squashed that idea immediately. After the Italy/Libya agreement was announced France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly released a statement that the deal constituted “neither a precedent nor a reference,” for “each bilateral history gets along as it wishes, each history is specific.”

Mathias Victorien Ntep is a PhD candidate at the University of Frankfurt/Main, Germany.