From MoneyBeat:
Libya on the Brink of Chaos
LIBYA SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL
It is easy to overlook events in Libya as other flash points in the Middle East hog the headlines. Egypt is on fire; Syria is collapsing into horror; and Salafi extremist groups are lobbing missiles into Israel.
A closer look at Libya, though, reveals a country descending into lawlessness.
In the country that is Europe’s largest supplier of oil, extrajudicial assassinations abound, foreign embassies are bombed and senior government figures quit in frustration.
The 2011 revolution stirred Old Libya from its slumbers. Before Moammar Gadhafi and before King Idris the three provinces that now form Libya (an Italian construct, the name was adopted only in 1934) were mainly linked by the movement of Bedouin.
More autonomy is now being sought, particularly by Cyrenaica, the most easterly province and the home to most of the country’s oil industry.
Gadhafi held Libya together by force of will and willing use of force. In his absence it is falling apart.
Foreign Policy says conditions for ordinary Libyans haven’t improved since the revolution—crumbling schools, filthy hospitals, endemic corruption and pollution of the coastline breed public discontent toward the government....MORE
