Can someone explain the tribal system in Libya and the mentality of the people there?

: Can someone explain the tribal system in Libya and the mentality of the people there?
From what I have been able to ascertain, westerners really don’t have any concept of what tribalism is and I am struggling but painstakingly trying to understand it. Hopefully, that will allow me to put into perspective how the events in Libya are unfolding. Thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by CROM-
Well, where westerners strive for the goals of the individual, with the idea in mind that what’s good for the individual must also be good for the community, with tribal groups it’s the other way round.

Mostly it’s just a focus on their cultural priorities.

Here in the west we do our best to create equality in schools, healthcare, jobs, etc, and we praise those who manage to pull out ahead of the pack as leaders of business for example.

In tribal groups, they wouldn’t understand that – they believe that the primary concern should be the survival of the group and that individuals are of lesser concern.

So in a way Gaddafi is clever to try and utlize the tribal groups, mostly because those groups know he could kill them all with bio-weapons if he wanted to.

Answer by Alejandro
Almost all of the Middle East and North Africa is tribal. Many tribes don’t much like each other. In Iraq you have Sunni’s and Shi-ites. Saddam kept them together, just like Gaddafi has in Libya. Once he’s gone you could have more problems!

Answer by The U
Libya is technically still a tribal society, but labeling Libya as tribal is not entirely correct.

They are traditional desert peoples, conservative in nature and religion. There are six major clans or tribes, which dominate the societal structure in the small population of about 6.4 million.

However, Libyans also live in cities with foreigners from across North Africa, the Arabian peninsula and Europe. This means that tribalism is weakened every year as it has already been doing.

Tribes don’t automatically hate each other, and they are typically on the same page regarding many issues, including the current rebellion (with a possible exception being Gaddafi’s tribe). Talk of tribalism is usually an effort to divide peoples during war or to establish an understanding of the conflict.

In the case of Libya, the importance of the tribes is less their political and military allegiances and more their necessity in filling the administrative, bureaucratic, and overall government void in the possible absence of Gaddafi.