Tunisia and Libya

Abstract

Even though Tunisia and Libya-apart from being immediate neighbours-share similar historical experiences as Ottoman provinces since the sixteenth century and, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, European (i.e. French and Italian) colonies, their armed forces have developed in radically different ways. Indeed, among North African or Arab militaries, they can be said to occupy opposite sides on a spectrum in several respects. Whereas the Armed Forces of Tunisia have been a comparatively small and under-equipped but cohesive and, at least according to regional standards, very professional and meritocratic force, their Libyan counterparts have been rather large and awash with weaponry, but also highly fragmented and pervaded by clientelism. Moreover, while the Tunisian military has since its inception adopted a purely defensive posture, Libya's armed forces have been involved in a number of foreign military 'adventures'. Several factors account for these divergent trajectories, including the vastly different policies-both internal and external pursued by the two countries' post-independence leaders, the relative homogeneity of Tunisian society, which contrasts with Libya's tribalism, as well as the latter's abundance of fossil fuel deposits, which have funded Libya's at times massive military build-up. The aim of this chapter is to analyse and compare the evolution and characteristics of the armed forces of Tunisia and Libya focusing on several key aspects. While both militaries as well as those of other Arab states-have received considerable scholarly attention in the aftermath of the popular uprisings of 2010/2011 which have gripped many countries of the region, the Tunisian and Libyan armed forces have rarely been subject to systematic comparison, arguably also because of their vast differences. The chapter begins with a consideration of the historical origins of the militaries of the two countries, followed by a discussion of their security and defence policies. It then turns to the organizational structure of military forces and civil-military relations in Tunisia and Libya. This is followed by an examination of trends in military spending, arms transfers as well as weaponry of land, sea, and air forces. The final sections focus on the main military operations and deployments of the two armed forces, while the conclusion contains some brief reflections on their responses to the popular uprisings of 2010/2011, which in both countries led to the downfall of their long-standing leaders.