Study of Italian-Libyan relations in Russian science literature from the late 20th to the early 21st century

The main purpose of the article is to review the most complete and  holistic  scientific  works  of  Russian  authors  which  are  devoted  to  the  study  of Italian-Libyan relations. To carry out the research a broad historiographic base  on  the  topic  was  involved,  the  author  turned  to  both  the  “classic”  works  of Soviet scientists, and to the most modern scientific figures. One of the main tasks in  the  study  of  the  topic  is  to  identify  the  historiographic  issues  associated  with  the  lack  of  modern  Russian  scientific  literature  on  the  referred  theme.  The article analyzes the specific features of the literature published from the end of the 20th to the beginning of the 21st century in Russia, highlighting the issue of interaction between two countries in different spheres of international relations.  The methodological  basis  of  the  work  is  the  issue-chronological  and  complex analysis of the used literature, the establishment of the cause-effect relationships and patterns in the Russian authors approaches to their research, as well as their interpretation for the current stage of development of relations between the two countries. During research it was revealed that most of the scientific  works  of  our  compatriots  are  devoted  to  a  certain,  rather  narrow,  range  of  issues:  the  Italian–Turkish  war  of  1911–1912,  cooperation  between  Libya and Italy in the control of illegal migration from Africa to Europe, Italian military intervention in the civil war in Libya 2011. At the same time, not many Russian authors cover and analyze the Italian-Libyan cooperation in the political, cultural, social, and economic fields during the long-term period of Colonel Gaddafi’s rule in Libya. In this regard, the author of the article notes that there is a great amount of historical data: the diplomatic documents, resolutions, official letters of top public executives, treaties and agreements between the countries, including documents of international organizations that are not studied at present sufficiently. The article identifies the most perspective areas for further research of Italian-Libyan relations, what emphasizes the importance and relevance of the chosen topic. The author comes to a conclusion that at the moment it seems quite difficult to find a well-founded, comprehensive scientific literature designed to determine the nature and options for the development of relations between Libya and Italy at the modern stage.

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