PEACE CALL: A girl waves a rainbow flag for peace during a rally in Rome against Western military intervention in Libya on April 2, 2011 (WANG QINGQIN)

Actually, many places in Libya had been governed by local tribes until Gaddafi launched a coup and overthrew King Idris in 1969. Although Gaddafi did not reform the outdated tribal system, Libya maintained unity under his rule. Many Libyans did not like Gaddafi, but they want to see their country fractured. Now that the strongman is gone, how to safeguard national unity has become a pressing concern.

Economic backlash

The West did not gain any benefits from the war except the killing of Gaddafi. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the most active Western leader during the intervention, intended to use the war to bolster his popularity ahead of the presidential election. But he did not receive the expected support of the French people due largely to the economic downturn and rising unemployment.

According to the latest survey, unemployment in France reached 2.84 million in 2011, the highest since 1999. In his 2007 presidential campaign, Sarkozy vowed to reduce unemployment to 5 percent. But in the third quarter of 2011, French unemployment reached 9.3 percent and showed no sign of decreasing in the long run. It is expected that the number would be 10.7 percent in 2012. The French presidential election will begin in April. Sarkozy has no time to fulfill his promise.

Although there are many causes for France's high unemployment, the huge cost of intervention in Libya has hurt the prospects for an economic recovery. War is a money-burning machine. Operations in Libya cost France at least 300 million euros ($400 million). The money should have been spent to address its fiscal problems.

In 2011, France's debt reached 1.75 trillion euros ($2.33 trillion), accounting for 87 percent of the country's GDP. The budget deficit of the French Government accounted for 5.7 percent of the GDP, which exceeded the upper limit of 3 percent required by the EU. In view of the facts, international credit rating organizations downgraded France's sovereign rating earlier this year.

Italy, which followed France in the intervention, also suffered economically. As it spent millions of euros on the war, its economic stagnation and unemployment deteriorated. In January, the Italian unemployment rate reached 9.2 percent, the highest since 2004. Around 2.31 million people lost their jobs. By November last year, Italy's debt had increased to 1.9 trillion euros ($2.54 trillion), 1.2 times its GDP. Also, the budget deficit of the Italian Government reached 3.9 percent of the GDP. Like France, Italy has also seen its sovereign rating lowered by international credit rating agencies.

The military intervention has failed to make an immediate positive impact on conflict-ridden Libya or deliver benefits to Western countries as they expected. Instead of helping resolve a country's problems, outside interference often backfires to the benefit of no one. This is one of the lessons learned from Libya.

The author is vice president of the China Institute of International Studies

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