“Introducing the Presence of Socialist Czechoslovakia into the Consciousness of Libyan Society:” Socialist Experts and Their Role in Prague-Tripoli Relations, 1969–1989.

Gaddafi’s revolution fundamentally changed the approach of socialist states to Libya and opened new possibilities for cooperation between the Eastern bloc and the newly formed Libyan Arab Republic. As Czechoslovakia did not want to be left behind, it started trying to break into the Libyan market in the early 1970s, especially using Czech experts in the fields of healthcare, geology, and engineering. Beginning in 1974, Czechoslovakia started seeking to consolidate its position in the Libyan economy and to aid the country’s modernization by sending out experts under a scientific and technical cooperation program. However, it faced a number of obstacles. One such obstacle was the competition between the Warsaw Pact states in Libya. Prague sent hundreds of civilian experts to Gaddafi’s Libya between 1970 and 1989, contributing substantially to the reputation of socialist Czechoslovakia not only in Libya but throughout the Third World. Based on never-before-used materials from Czech archives, this study attempts to portray the workings of the scientific and technical cooperation between Czechoslovakia and Libya and its importance to Czechoslovakia-Libya relations. The text discusses, among other things, the question of Czechoslovakia’s self-representation as an autonomous business actor, and the problematic aspects of the life of Czechoslovak experts in Libya