Watch Consequences Of US-Libyan Relations
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced on Monday that the United Stated decided to restore full diplomatic ties with Libya and clear the nation from the list of terrorism-supporting countries．The Libyan Government welcomed the decision.
This means that the 25-year-old US-Libyan confrontation comes to an end.
Interpretation of this varies, the sudden announcement of the rapprochement is closely related to the issue of Iran's nuclear bidding.
Over a long period of time, Washington called Libya, together with Iran and others, a 'rogue nation', which allegedly supported terrorism, and was one of the seven countries that could be subject to possible US nuclear strikes.
The situation altered somewhat since the outbreak of the Iraqi War in 2003．The military forces of the United States and its allies toppled the Saddam Hussein regime with the excuse that Iraq went in for weapons of mass destruction(WMD) programmes．They did so in hopes of the regime a public example that would pressure others to give up their alleged WMD bidding.
Iran took no heed of this and went on doing what it deemed should be done．Libya, however, was cooperative, abandoning its so-called WMD programmes.
For the co-operative attitude on the part of Libya, the United States gave some limited encouragement, restoring diplomatic representatives to the country in 2004．But restoration of full diplomatic relations did not occur because Libya, in the eyes of the United States, remained a 'totalitarian' country, running counter to Washington's push for US-style． and democracy, even though Libya's co-operation in WMD issues was in the United States' strategic interest.
The deadlock over Iran's nuclear bidding cornered the United States to a dilemma(进退两难的窘境): Military strikes are difficult to carry out right now and diplomatic means are yielding no significant results.
It is in this context that US-Libyan ties were put on the agenda．The United States wanted to convey this message: US-Iranian ties could be restored if Iran follows Libya's example, despite the fact that the United States dislikes the Iranian regime.
The message is naturally not only for the ear of Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea but also for other 'rogue countries'—Middle-East nations that are in the throes of transformation and some Latin American countries.
The United States, for instance, decided to impose arms embargo on Venezuela almost simultaneously while it announced rapprochement with Libya．The contrast between the punishment and reward helps bring home to other countries the intention that 'those who obey survive, those do not perish' in the US international strategy.
To what extent this kind of 'punishment and rewarding' strategy would impact the Iran and DPRK's nuclear bidding and those 'disobedient' countries, such as Sudan and Venezuela, is worth keeping an eye on.
Oil constitutes another important factor behind the rapprochement．As the second-largest oil producing country in Africa and an important nation located in the North, Libya enjoys unique geopolitical and economic value.
Currently, the oil -rich Middle East is in chaos and the last thing the Bush administration wants is for the United States to become an 'oil hostage' to the Middle East, where the US Government is strenuously pushing for democratic transformation.
The situation is compounded by the fact that some Latin American countries are increasingly tilting to the left, threatening to become an unstable energy-resources backyard for the United States.
In view of all this, opening up new energy resources-supplying bases becomes a strategic imperative for the United States.
More importantly,