France's Responsibility in Libya Begins after Sarkozy Is Given Warm Welcome in Benghazi

By now, it is stale news that French President Nicolas Sarkozy received a hero's welcome at Benghazi, the city which nurtured the revolution against Libyan dictator Gaddafi. Sarkozy and his political parties are no strangers to Benghazi, Libya or anywhere else in North Africa. In fact, France has had a bloody role in the history of the region, much of which with both the Africans and the French would like to forget. The French mistakes in Algeria hurt not only the people of Algeria, but also made France rethink its own policies concerning Africa, and the colonies that it once ruled.

While all that has been a closed chapter of history, and people now read about the Algerian revolution and the turbulent history only in textbooks, the region’s troubles are far from being over. Libya, Algeria’s neighbour remained an Italian colony until 1947, when Italy renounced all of its colonies of the former Italian Empire. France did try several times to influence Libyan people under suspicion of being overwhelmed by the Italians, under the dynamic currents that flowed through the regions during the allied and axis struggles and the coercive French influence continued even after Libya gained her independence.

The philosophical discourses by the modernists who were inspired by what was seen as a new age in French enlightenment did not foresee a free Libya, and much of their discourse was influenced by France's policies in Algeria. The warm welcome that the French and the British received earlier today was indeed pleasing and less threatening than the war sirens that were sent out. Sarkozy's visit to Libya after Gaddafi's regime coming to an end can be seen as an ironic milestone, which the French and the Libyans may not realize today, but their common histories have brought them together to work towards a more peaceful, less aggressive and less fundamental society for the people of Libya.

It is however not clear what effects the growing French influence over Libya will have on its former colony Algeria, where sentiments against the state of emergency imposed had been rife. It was finally lifted in late February following pressure from several sides. Conspiracy theorists have pointed fingers at France being abnormally active in the region, especially in its zeal to overthrow the former Libyan regime. Overthrow it did, but what remains to be seen is if the region is going to spiral down a dark alley of fundamentalism, militancy and instability. Sarkozy will have to do a lot more than receive gifts from Libyan children in Benghazi.