Foreign Affairs piece on the aftermath:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articl...spawn_4-072612
Not a particularly optimistic view.
Of course even if "liberal, secular-leaning" groups do take over government, they may or may not be able to regain control of the country. A great deal will depend on getting back at least some of the money the old regime stashed outside, and ob being able to put together a credible enough armed force and a solid enough re-integration program to force the militias to demobilize. None of that will be easy and there's certainly a chance for a full-scale meltdown.
On the other hand, the voter turnout and the generally peaceful election, as much as the results, suggests that there is a real constituency for rebuilding. We'll see.
Items like the one cited above will inevitably lead to suggestions that some sort of controlled demolition of the Gaddafi regime would have been superior. That assumes, of course, that it would have been possible. When a long-standing dictator chooses to fight it out in the face of insurrection and the armed forces (or a large part of them) remain loyal, there's rarely going to be an orderly or attractive solution.
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