I hereby have the pleasure to introduce an important and excellent work about the economic history and modern diversification of the Libyan economy, in which the information has been presented and analysed in a way that answers many qu- tions about the unique Libyan community and its economic system. It also ex- ines important economic and legal changes currently taking place in Libya as the country engages in a new stage of its economic development, after the lifting of the US sanctions in late 2004. I believe that this work will become necessary reading for foreign investors in Libya, regional and international organizations, and educational, academic and political institutions. This important book will also assist in bridging the existing knowledge gap about present day Libya, and enable readers to understand an international desti- tion that is very little known, either geographically, sociologically, economically, or politically. This is because, for those interested in Libya, most information about conditions in the country, until very recently, has been acquired through the international media, which continues, even up to the present, to be very negative about the country and its leader and people.
