TRIPOLI ¨C Egypt is not the only place where the bright hopes of the Arab Spring are fading. From attacks against Western governments to ethnic clashes in remote desert oases, Libya¡¯s revolution is faltering.
The blame for Libya¡¯s travails rests largely with the interim government that led the uprising. The National Transitional Council refuses to make difficult decisions, instead palming them off to a future elected government. The NTC has preserved much of the institutional paralysis and knee-jerk behavior typical of Col. Moammar Gadhafi¡¯s overthrown regime. If the Libyan revolution is to succeed, the country¡¯s new leaders must make a clean break with the past.
During his 42 years in power, Ghadhafi surrounded himself with advisers who were companions from his youth, supplemented by a small coterie of technocrats. As a result, the leaders of the revolt that overthrew him have little government experience. In a country where any political activity was considered treasonous, many expected the neophyte NTC to stumble. And so it has.
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