by
Elliott Abrams
February 23, 2011
President Barack Obama speaks about Libya as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens in the White House on February 23, 2011. (Kevin Lamarque/Courtesy Reuters)
President Obama addressed the situation in Libya this afternoon in remarks I found disappointing.
My comments are in The Weekly Standard this evening.
CFR seeks to foster civil and informed discussion of foreign policy issues. Opinions expressed on CFR blogs are solely those of the author or commenter, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions. All comments must abide by CFR's guidelines and will be moderated prior to posting.
Pressure Points tracks developments in the Middle East and democratization and human rights issues globally.
Yesterday the columnist Jeffrey Goldberg reported that Secretary of State Kerry argued, inside the Obama administration, for air strikes on…
Is neoconservatism dead and gone? In the June issue of the London-based magazine Standpoint, I discuss the movement’s past and…
Here is what happened in Cairo in the case of 43 NGO workers whose crime was to promote democracy in…
During the Cold War the Soviets pronounced the “Brezhnev Doctrine,” under which no state that was in the Soviet camp…
The disqualification of most of the men who sought to run in Iran’s presidential election has left a narrow field…
Print
Email
Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Cite
Elliott, It appears that Qaddafi hasn’t used all the resources available to him. So the end is still quite a while away. The Italians can’t help as the Libyan sovereign fund has a tight grip on key parts of the Italian economy. The Libyans helped the Italians survive the 2008 crisis. This could be a reason why there is a reluctance to act.
But the increase in oil prices will come back and bite the EU economy and have a negative feedback to the US economy.
Really, what is the thinking behind the US administration’s push for democracy? Is it worth it? I can really see why King Abdullah was so angry at Obama in their phone conversation after the Egyptian events.
Thanks