Denver Law Review Volume 89 Issue 3 Special Issue - Constitutionalism and Article 7 Revolutions December 2020 Arab Spring, Libyan Liberation and the Externally Imposed Democratic Revolution Haider Ala Hamoudi Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/dlr Recommended Citation Haider Ala Hamoudi, Arab Spring, Libyan Liberation and the Externally Imposed Democratic Revolution, 89 Denv. U. L. Rev. 699 (2012). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. ARAB SPRING, LIBYAN LIBERATION AND THE EXTERNALLY IMPOSED DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION HAIDER ALA HAMOUDIt For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally re- luctant to use force to solve the world's many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. -Barack Obama, March 28, 2011 (justifying the NATO intervention in Libya). I. INTRODUCTION Contemporary events in the Arab world should cause us to wonder what happened to our commitment to the democratic revolution. Ameri- ca's understanding of its own role in supporting democratic orders is, as a result of the so-called Arab Spring, as confused as it has ever been. I hope in these few pages to expound upon these ideas of democractic commitments and their consequences, which must command greater con- sideration.