As this special issue of the Journal of North African Studies was being prepared for publication, the revolution in Libya erupted. Given the fact that its contents relate exclusively to the Qadhafi regime's period of control of Libya, the editors of the special issue felt it necessary to consider whether they should continue with publication. After all, even though the eventual outcome of the struggle against the Qadhafi regime is still undecided, there was a strong possibility that events could soon have transformed the articles it contained into historical analysis rather than an investigation of current political realities. Nor was there any point in delaying publication for, if the regime were to recover control, then the original purpose of the publication would still be valid and, if it did not, then the same issue of historical relevance would have to be faced.
In the event, both editors agreed that publication should be continued. Our reasons for doing this were that, in any event, the articles represent an important and detailed account of the ways in which the Qadhafi regime have dealt with issues of foreign policy and that, whatever the outcome of the struggle currently under way, such issues would continue to be relevant to scholars of the jamahiriyah. Even if the idiosyncratic and brutal political system in Libya is ended, scholars and policy-makers will need to understand the ways in which a successor state will evolve. Similarly, historians will eventually wish to unravel the complex patterns of policy that informed its development.
In this respect, therefore, we feel that this issue forms part of an essential record of a regime that, for 42 years, determined the future of the Libyan people and will become part of its own history. It is a record, after all, of a conference on Libya organised by Claudia Gazzini and Emanuela Paoletti and held in St. Anthony's College at the University of Oxford in September 2009, brought together in the hope that light could be thrown on a country noted for the obscurity and opaqueness of its political processes. It is in this spirit that we publish this special issue, alongside our own personal hopes for a more just and prosperous future for the country to which it is dedicated.