A lot has happened for Libya this week. Arguably, the most fulfilled revolution of the Arab Spring came to a gruesome conclusion in the popularly broadcast capture and death of Muammar Gaddafi.
I don't know about you, but I couldn't help being the far distant, western moraliser on seeing the footage of this helpless, old man being beaten and bloodied as he approached the last moments of his life. It is a regular habit of our culture that we look and stare upon other nations on ethical issues and pass judgement. Indeed as I stared at the images before me, I couldn't help but wonder how Libya could possibly come out of this if, at the moment of freedom, they display such wanton violence towards another human.
What I neglected to accept, however, was that this violence wasn't wanton. Not to those dishing it out. What I failed to remember was that these people had lost mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children to this old frail man. I felt uncomfortable as I realised that I could only pass judgement if I was sure that, when stood in front of this man, having lost a loved one and with a 9mm pistol in my hand, I would not have been at least tempted to pull the trigger.
So here Libya is faced with the prospect of building a new country with the world looking on through the lens of hundreds of news agency cameras. It would appear that no moment is lost to us. We realise that whilst NATO have gone in to protect civilians from Gaddafi, members of the freedom fighters have also committed atrocities. Only days after Gaddafis' death, it is reported that 53 of his loyalists have been executed without trial. This is not long after a similar number of lives were herded into a hanger by Gaddafi loyalists to meet a similar end.
One might be forgiven that with Libya being in the grip of such apparently violently minded people on both sides, there is little hope for this country. Perhaps it will walk the same lawless, blood stained, hateful path that Iraq is only just trying to emerge from.
I would argue however that, as far as post revolution countries go, Libya is not in a bad position.
The mistake made in Iraq was the loss of balance of power between its tribes under the supervision of an external and eventually unwelcome agent. As I understand it, Libya is also very tribal. There will be a lot of different factions with some times vastly different interests. Libya has the potential to erupt into a volcano of civil unrest but it also has the potential to emerge as a leading, modern, Arab nation due to some key ingredients. The first is that, of course, there has been arguably minimal outside influence. There has been no invasion. There are no occupying foreign troops. Libya, as western forces step back, is its own country with its own decisions to make. The second ingredient is the threat and real likelihood of spiralling violence. Both ingredients, I think, help to bring about a near perfect environment for John Rawls' "Original Position".
The Original Position, very basically, is the circumstance that brings about the most fair justice system in a fair society. The crucial factor is that everyone who has a part to play in the decision making and forming of this new society operates under a "veil of ignorance". This veil prevents each member from seeing what role, position, and wealth they will acquire before the society is established. With such a sense of insecurity, each member will strive to ensure that the society is as fair as it can be so that they can get the best possible and safest deal. It may lack the moral or ethical ideal or inspiration behind revolution and justice, but it works. Failure to cultivate these factors in post-revolutionary countries will bring about a return or move back towards pre-revolutionary conditions. We have seen this with Iran and Afghanistan but we have seen successes with many countries that have emerged out of the eastern bloc having been in a condition resembling the original condition.
So could it be that Libya meets the right requirements for Rawls proposal? I do not truly know the answer to that as someone who is not Libyan; but I would suggest the potential is there.
And for all us democratic, civilised, moral know-it-alls in the UK and the US; let us not be under any illusion that we are so far removed from the blood thirsty behaviour that has recently occurred in this emerging country. Let us be aware that it was not too long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that the United Kingdom was made up of blood thirsty, power hungry tribes who came together under the right circumstances of the Original Position.