The problems that Libya faces

Though Muammar Gadhafi's whereabouts remain unknown, it is almost impossible for him to regain power in Libya. Abdel Jalil, chairman of the opposition National Transitional Council, has said that Libya will hold elections within eight months and formally establish a new government. But even if the risk of rising extremist forces is ruled out, Libyan people still face a number of challenges.

The fuse that led to social unrest in Libya and other Arab countries is the high unemployment rate among the youth. The high proportion of the youth in the country's population did not become a "demographic dividend" for economic and social vitality. Instead, it became a source of instability. The high unemployment, to a large extent, can be attributed to the disordered population growth, the unreasonable economic structure in Libya and the predominance of oil and gas and other resources industries, which were not conducive to creating enough jobs for the newly increased workforce.

Over-dependence on the growth of oil revenue is usually not conducive to the development of non-oil industries (especially manufacturing) in oil exporting countries and the regular growth pattern would be difficult to change even after the ousting of the Gadhafi government. To transform the growth pattern and get out of the trap of "resource curse", the Libyan government has to have a strong operation capacity. But whether the opposition can quickly establish a new authoritative government and strong operational ability remains to be seen.