Formulaic Politics

Foreign policy these days works on a pretty simple, and rather equitable basis. Here's the formula: antagonize the international community and fail to comply with international law, get invaded and deposed. Comply with international law and demonstrate to everybody that you're willing to play nice, get lucrative international contracts.

Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin has had talks with Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi that were expected to focus on trade and business opportunities.

He is in Tripoli for a two-day visit that includes a meeting with Canadian firms seeking business in Libya.

Also, this:

Italian property services firm Gruppo Norman has signed a deal with Libya's government to build and manage one of the country's largest tourist resorts.

The Farwa Island Project is among the first major non-oil related project with a foreign firm since the thaw in the country's relations with the West.

One of these days, when I have money and time, I'd love to go visit Libya. It's the home of Carthage and a lot of wicked sweet Roman ruins. Heck, maybe I could even meet Moammar Qaddafi and ask him "What's up?"!

In other news, Senator Kerry blames bin Laden for his loss of the election, regarding that video that bin Laden released a few days before the election. Apparently one expert on Middle Eastern politics thinks that Senator Kerry is barking up the wrong tree:

PARIS Proving that he retains his theatrical flair, Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, took credit for President George W. Bush's re-election in an interview on Italian television Friday.

In what was billed as Qaddafi's first televised interview since United Nations sanctions were lifted last year, the iconoclastic head of North Africa's richest nation delivered a characteristic performance, swinging between the serious and the absurd.

He told Giovanni Minoli of Italian state television's investigative news program "We Are History" that he was still waiting for the United States to reward him for giving up prohibited weapons.

He said Libya's move was responsible for Bush's election victory and said he now wanted the United States and other Western nations to provide Libya with nuclear technology for nonmilitary purposes. He said Iran and North Korea might follow his lead if they saw that Libya was compensated for its actions.

Colonel Qaddafi goes on to give himself fifty percent of the credit for President Bush's November win. I think this is going way overboard, but at the same time, I've cited the Libyan example many times (though not here until now) as part of the reason why making an example of Iraq was such a good idea. I think it's important to continue encouraging full democracy in Libya and throughout the world, but Qaddafi did unilaterally surrender his weapons programs, and I absolutely agree that he should be encouraged and rewarded for this.