The Foreign Service Journal, January 2011

elations between Libya and the U.S. have a turbulent history: War at the be- ginning of the 19th century; U.S. gov- ernment support for Libyan indepen- dence after World War II; official and private-sector American engagement in the development of the country’s oil wealth and human resources in the mid-20th century; Libyan terrorism and U.S. military retaliation in the 1980s; U.S.-en- gineered economic sanctions and isolation in the late 20th century; and restoration of diplomatic relations in 2006. Hopefully the 21st century will continue to feature positive interaction between Libya and the United States. But for that to happen, both sides must build on shared interests with serious diplomacy and mutual respect. Early History of Bilateral Relations Our first policy toward Libya was appeasement. The young United States established relations with the Bey of Tripoli in 1796 and signed a treaty of peace and friendship. Behind the fancy diplomatic language, the reality was that in return for an annual U.S. government payment, the Tripoli- based corsairs, who had preyed on U.S. shipping, guaranteed its free passage. Along with being a military hero, President George Washington was a foreign policy realist. He correctly assessed that it was hard enough to maintain land forces and a modest navy to deal with the British, French, Spanish and other threats, and he warned against entangling alliances even with states that could have defended our commerce in the distant Mediterranean. The second U.S. policy emerged in 1801. Thomas Jeffer- son’s administration decided to establish a naval presence in theMediterranean, so it halted payments to the bey and spent the money on beefing up the U.S. Navy. That led to our first foreign war, which started badly with the Libyan capture of the U.S. frigate Philadelphia and incarceration of its crew in 1803. Two years later, WilliamEaton, the U.S. naval agent for the Barbary States, led a detachment of eight U.S. marines and a much larger foreign mercenary force overland from Alexandria to seize Derna, a port in eastern Libya. Eventu- ally, the Ottoman Empire reasserted direct rule in Tripoli and agreed with the United States and European nations that state-licensed piracy should no longer be an acceptable tool of national security. For the next century or so, the U.S. had minimal dealings with Libya. We were of little significance in the Mediter- ranean, compared to the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France and Italy. In 1911, Italy invaded Libya and established a colony. Completely shut out of business, the U.S. closed the consulate in Tripoli in 1916. Especially after the advent of fascism, Italian colonial rule proved brutal and racist. The Arab population in Libya actually decreased between 1922 26 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1 T HE U.S. AND L IBYA : N ORMALIZATION OF A S TORMY R ELATIONSHIP T HE RECENT IMPROVEMENT IN RELATIONS WITH T RIPOLI SUGGESTS SOME LARGER FOREIGN POLICY LESSONS . B Y D AVID L. M ACK R David L. Mack, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, is an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute and honorary chairman of the U.S.-Libya Business Association. He served as deputy assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and a political officer and Arabic-language instructor in Tripoli, among many other Foreign Service assignments. The assertions and opinions in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MEI or USLBA.