Historical Dictionary Of Libya

Of all the states of the Middle East and North Africa, Libya has long been the country about which the least is known. It is only in recent times that scholars and the general public alike have begun to appreciate the complexity of Libya's turbulent history including the recent February 17th Revolution in 2011 when protests broke out throughout Libya, demanding better living conditions and more job opportunities. When the Qaddafi regime responded with force, killing scores of unarmed civilians, the protesters called for regime change. In what came to be known as the February 17th Revolution, the Qaddafi regime was overthrown and Qaddafi was killed in October 2011. In July 2012, the Libyan people elected a General National Congress charged with overseeing the drafting of a new constitution and the election of a national government. This fifth edition of Historical Dictionary of Libya covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, society, conflicts, and the culture of Libya. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Libya.

Cameroon is a country endowed with a variety of climates and agricultural environments, numerous minerals, substantial forests, and a dynamic population. It is a country that should be a leader of Africa. Instead, we find a country almost paralyzed by corruption and poor management, a country with a low life expectancy and serious health problems, and a country from which the most talented and highly educated members of the population are emigrating in large numbers. Although Cameroon has made economic progress since independence, it has not been able to change the dependent nature of its economy. The economic situation combined with the dismal record of its political history, indicate that prospects for political stability, justice, and prosperity are dimmer than they have been for most of the country's independent existence. The fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon has been updated to reflect advances in the study of Cameroon's history as well as to provide coverage of the years since the last edition. It relates the turbulent history of Cameroon through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Cameroon history from the earliest times to the present.

The Central African Republic (CAR) came into existence on 1 December 1958 as a semi-autonomous member state of the Communauté (French Community), meaning that France still controlled its currency, defense, foreign affairs and national security. The history of the CAR can be interpreted in radically different ways. One the one hand the people of Central Africa have suffered enormously at the hands of slave traders, concessionary companies, French colonialists and African rulers, and their country remains largely ‘undeveloped.’ On the other most Central Africans have retained free use of land on which they grow crops and from which they extract numerous valuable resources. Their way of life is in the long run perhaps more sustainable than those of the ‘experts’ who come to assist them. The theme of essential continuity in the history of the CAR is as important, if not more important in the long run, than the themes of violent change, exploitation, and enduring dependence. Deep roots of continuity provide a surprising stability in the face of dramatic and often very painful change on the surface. The Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1200 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Central African Republic.

The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is the second largest country in Africa. This, coupled with its location near Europe and its prized hydrocarbons (oil and gas), continues to increase Algeria's international importance. Algeria's fight for liberation from French colonialism, which it finally achieved in 1962, was made famous by Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966) and stands as an inspiration for many nearby countries. However, recent violence caused in part by ideological rivalry between a declining socialism and rising Islamism, illustrates post-colonial peril and tragedy. Today, Algeria endeavors to reconcile its past with its present. The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Algeria has undergone extensive and substantial changes since previous editions, especially taking into account Algeria's civil strife of the 1990s and the country's controversial re-institutionalization and re-democratization. This is accomplished by means of a chronology, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, an introductory essay, maps, black & white photos, economic tables and statistics, appendixes, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events.

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Libya have rarely followed a smooth path. Washington has repeatedly tried and failed to mediate lasting solutions, to prevent recurrent crises, and to secure its own national interests in a region of increasing importance to the United States. Libya and the United States, Two Centuries of Strife provides a unique and up-to-date analysis of U.S.-Libyan relations, assessing within the framework of conventional historical narrative the interaction of the governments and peoples of Libya and the United States over the past two centuries. Drawing on a wide range of new and unfamiliar material, Ronald Bruce St John, an expert with over thirty years of experience in international relations, charts the instances of ignorance, misunderstanding, treachery, and suffering on both sides that have shaped and limited commercial and diplomatic intercourse. St John argues that Cold War strategies resulted in a paradoxical and ambiguous U.S. policy toward Libya during the Idris regime of the 1960s, strategies that contributed to the bankruptcy of that monarchy. Following the Libyan revolution, the U.S. wrongly believed Qaddafi would become an ally in support of U.S. policy to keep Soviet influence and communism out of the region; his failure to do so marked the beginning of an era of political tension and mutual distrust. Libya and the United States, Two Centuries of Strife documents how long-standing policy differences over the Palestinian issue and such terrorist acts as the destruction of the U.S. embassy in Tripoli and the Pan Am explosion over Lockerbie in 1988 resulted in a sharp deterioration of relations. St John contends that the ensuing demonization of Libya and the U.S. policy of confrontation, which has spanned successive administrations in Washington, have ironically often not served American interests in the region but, rather, have facilitated Qaddafi's survival.

The history of Eritrea is told in this reference through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Eritrea's history from the earliest times to the present. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Eritrea.

The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as 'the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.' While terrorism has been around for centuries, it was the al Qa'eda attacks of September 11, 2001, that brought home to the world, and most particularly the United States, just how dangerous terrorism can be. The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Terrorism presents the full spectrum of forms of political violence through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on major terrorist groups and their leaders, significant terrorist events, cyber-terrorism, counterterrorism, and social science concepts regarding the motivations and group dynamics of terrorist groups. Authors Sean K. Anderson and Stephen Sloan move beyond the gut reaction we have to this volatile and divisive topic by providing a reliable and objective reference on terrorism.

Early History -- Ottoman Occupation, 1551-1911 -- Second Ottoman occupation (1835-1911) -- Italian Colonial Era, 1911-43 -- Struggle for independence, 1943-51 -- United Kingdom of Libya, 1951-69 -- One September Revolution, 1969-73 -- Revolution on the move, 1973-86 -- Consolidation and reform, 1986-98 -- Libya resurgent -- Libya: from colony to independence

Despite advances in modern communication and the proliferation of information, there remain areas of the world about which little is known. One such place is Somalia. The informed public is aware of a political meltdown and consequent chaos there, but few comprehend the causes of this tragic crisis. This new edition covers Somalia's origin, history, culture, and language, as well as current economic and political issues. The alphabetical arrangement of this Dictionary, with a complete chronology, list of acronyms, and in-depth bibliography provide useful information about the country in a convenient format. A vital addition to reference collections supporting undergraduate and graduate programs on Africa and the Middle East, international relations, and economics- a useful fact-filled compendium for government and public libraries, NGO's, and other special libraries