Libyan Independence and the United Nations : A Case of Planned Decolonization

As Libya navigates its rocky transition, understanding Libya's historical experience of the constitutional drafting process is imperative. Chronicling the events that took place leading to the creation of an independent Libyan state, Adrian Pelt's Libyan Independence and the United Nations: A Case of Planned Decolonization narrates the process of decolonization, and offers the most detailed analysis available of the constitutional drafting process that occurred. This exhaustive volume highlights the extensive process undertaken by Pelt to seek the input of Libya's towns, regions, and tribes into what would become the country's foundational constitution. The author, Adrian Pelt, was appointed High Commissioner for Libya by the UN in 1949. Pelt initiated the discussions which brought together representatives from all parts of Libya to contribute to the drafting of the Libyan Constitution through the National Constituent Assembly. This seminal work was originally published in 1970 by Yale University Press and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This new edition, published by Kalam Research and Media (KRM) in association with the Centre for Libyan Studies at the Libya Institute for Advanced Studies (LIAS), and with permission from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was completely re-typeset in order to make it more accessible for legal experts, policymakers, and historians of Libyan affairs.