The Hill News

As Libya’s interim leadership, with help from NATO, moves closer to finishing off Qaddafi’s tyranny, the U.S. and international community now must develop the details of how they will support the National Transitional Council as the new government of Libya.  

There are great prospects but also daunting challenges and risks for Libyans and their new leaders as well as for others in the region.  For U.S. policymakers, there is an historic opportunity: not just to nurture a democratic Libya, but to build on the Arab Spring and to seek a reset of relations in North Africa.

Qaddafi’s departure opens the door to greater integration in the Maghrebâ€"essential for generating much-needed stability, economic growth, and improved security cooperation that will sustain and secure continuing democratic reforms across the region.

In particular, Qaddafi’s departure removes one of the last remaining supporters of the militant separatist Polisario! Front.  The decades-old Western Sahara dispute has for too long been an intractable obstacle blocking any real Maghreb unity.

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