The document analyzes refugee migration between Libya and Italy by examining their histories, cultures, and recent events. It discusses how Italy invaded and occupied Libya in the 1900s, leading to ongoing tensions. The cultures differ in areas like power distance and pragmatism. A recent event is described where a ship carrying 600 refugees from Libya sank near Tripoli, and surrounding countries like Italy and France denied seeing or assisting the distressed vessel. The document aims to understand this complex issue through various cultural lenses.

1. CurtisForte
11/22/14
Adams
Libyan and Italian Refugee Analysis
“An overcrowded ship carrying up to 600 people trying to flee Libya sank just outside the
port of Tripoli.”1 The U.N. Refugee organization has reported similar stories of this nature
recently due to the large amount of refugees migrating to Italy via human traffickers. Some
migrants are able to start a new life in Italy, but a majority is sent back to Libya. There are
multiple underlying cultural issues that create problems for both countries. A complex history
and differing cultures add to the complexity of this intercultural event. By analyzing each
culture, I believe we will able to get a sense of why each culture views the other from their
perspectives. This intercultural event presents an ethical dilemma in which its participants should
communicate by understanding the outcomes of previous intercultural encounters; history is an
important tool for analyzing this event because it sheds light on the differing Hofstede
dimensions, the views on refugee immigration, and the social episodes that construct D.I.E.
situations. The outcomes of intercultural encounters have played a pivotal role in the relations
between these countries and as a result many conflicts have not been forgotten.
The countries of Italy and Libya have a history of conflict and were created in a similar
manner, as certain city states and tribal cities grew. “Much of Libya was organized into
agricultural centers surrounded by tribally-organized Bedouin nomads.”2 As these agricultural
centers flourished, populations grew in coastal cities such as Tripoli. As the Italian city state’s
economies grew, there were conflicting systems of governance among each. The city states were
unified to bring stability and greater economic growth among all. Italy sought to expand its
territorial dominance by invading Libya in 1911.

2. CurtisForte
11/22/14
Adams
The first Italian invasion of Libya focused on the fertile coastal plain of Tripolitania and
the city of Tripoli where political chaos gave the Italians an easy victory.2 “Once in Sebha,
Libyan tribes rallied and cut off the garrison of Italians as they tried to fight their way back to the
coast. A decisive battle was fought in Sirte where the tribes under the Ulad Sleman defeated the
Italians who then withdrew from the countryside.”2 “In 1934, a brutal and bloody ten-year
guerilla war pitted the modern military might of the Italians against a largely subsistence-based
nomadic society. Nearly 50 percent of the population of Cyrenaica perished during the struggle.
The guerilla war represents a historic struggle in the minds of the Libyan people and its leader
Umar al Mukhtar became Libya's first national hero.”2 The future king of Libya, Idris, remained
in exile during the colonial period. This can be considered a symbol of regional if not national
opposition to the Italians.
However instead of being a strict isolationist, he lent the support of his forces to the allied
war effort in World War II, in exchange for a promise of national independence. “The United
Nations awarded Libya independence in 1951 and economic stability was assured by grants and
aid from the United States and several European countries.”2 The invasion of Libya by Italy has
not been forgiven or forgotten by the people of Libya and given these series of events, a lot of
tension still exists between Italy and Libya and this effects the intercultural encounters they
engage in. By comparing and contrasting these country’s Hofstede dimensions, I believe we will
gain more perspective into their cultural encounters.
By examining the power distance of these countries we will get a sense of how the less
powerful people of these countries accept that power is distributed unequally. Libya has a very
high power distance and as a result is clearly a hierarchical society.9 People in Libya accept that
everyone has their own place and that it does not need to be justified. Hierarchy reflects inherent

3. CurtisForte
11/22/14
Adams
inequalities; this makes sense given Libya’s historical political tyrants. However not all citizens
are subordinate, we saw this in 2011 with the assassination of Muammar Gadaffi by Libyan
rebels.
With a medium score, Northern Italy tends to prefer equality and a decentralization of
power and decision-making.10 Control and formal supervision are generally disliked among the
younger generation, who demonstrate a preference for teamwork and an open management style.
In Southern Italy all the consequences of power distance are often high, quite the opposite of
Northern Italy.3 This is due to a series of policies that resulted in the complication of the Italian
South’s economy, thus changing many cultural dynamics. In addition to the power distance I
believe that by examining Italy’s and Libya’s Pragmatism dimension, we will be able to get a
sense of how their societies maintain links with their own past while dealing with the challenges
of the present and future.
“Italy's high score of 61 on this dimension shows that Italian culture is pragmatic. Italians
believe that truth depends very much on the situation, context and time.”10 They show an ability
to adapt traditions easily to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and perseverance in
achieving results. This makes sense given their current adjustments to foreign policy and
immigration. “With a low score of 23, Libya has a normative culture. People in such societies
have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth; they are normative in their thinking.
They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a
focus on achieving quick results.”9 This makes sense given that Libya is historically a tribal
nation that depended upon traditions to adapt to the climate and other forces.

4. CurtisForte
11/22/14
Adams
Differences exist between Libya and Italy with regards to their pragmatism and I believe
that these differences make it difficult for Italy to adapt to the ever increasing refugee migration
from Libya, because traditionally Libyans have migrated to Italy in times of conflict and
hardship with the help of human traffickers. “With the overthrow and execution of Libyan leader
Muammar Qaddafi and the deal struck with him and the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi
that stated that Italy would, among other things, pay Libya five billion dollars as compensation
for damages inflicted during the colonial period, in return for Libya's prevention of migrants
from leaving its coasts and preferential export rights to Libya’s oil industry.”11
Italy suspended this agreement early in 2011, but cooperation between the two countries
continues. “Even if the current Italian government is keen to co-operate with Libya in efforts to
prevent illegal immigrants, the Italian Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi said the
government will not barter with Libya on the immigration issue. “Libya’s requests? There’s
absolutely no way we’ll negotiate over desperate people forced to cross the sea on rickety
vessels”, he said. ‘We’ll try to convince Libya that dramatic issues like these cannot be at the
center of give-and-take negotiations.”7 In this day and age countries are presented with the
ethical dilemma of whether to accept war refugees or deport them back to their home countries.
“Following the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck, the Italian government, decided to
strengthen their national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea by authorizing "Mare
Nostrum", a military and humanitarian operation that helps to rescue the migrants and arrest the
traffickers of immigrants.”12 However due to the recent surge in migrants from Libya, Italy’s
Mare Nostrum operation is being pushed to its limits. This has demographic, cultural as well as
humanitarian implications that Italy must reconcile. In addition to Italy’s Mare Nostrum policy,
the International Organization for Migration works to help ensure the legal, orderly, and humane

5. CurtisForte
11/22/14
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management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in
the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to
migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.5 This organization plays a
key role in helping refugees from Libya assimilate into Italy, or relocate to better areas of their
home country. As a result of Migration policy and organizational support I believe that the
Libyan refugees have a better chance of successfully escaping and adapting to the conditions that
they have fled. By examining a social episode and constructing a D.I.E. analysis I believe we
will be able to further our understanding of Italian-Libyan culture.
“The geographic position of Italy gives it the uneasy responsibility of sending back
illegal migrants; this is what happens every day, when overloaded boats – often managed by
criminal organizations – arrive on the Italian coasts or islands.”4 The social episode entailed here
demonstrates that intercultural issues are complex and difficult to adjust to. Let us examine this
event further by constructing a D.I.E. analysis of an event that has occurred recently. “An
overcrowded ship carrying up to 600 people trying to flee Libya sank just outside the port of
Tripoli. Passengers made contact by satellite telephone with an Italian priest, and asked for help.
A military helicopter with "Army" written on it later arrived and dropped water and biscuits,
signaling to the vessel to stay put, before presumably heading off to fetch help, Help failed to
arrive, and none of the Nato allies has admitted sending the helicopter. At one point, the boat,
which had run out of fuel, drifted close to an aircraft carrier, according to survivor accounts, and
two jets flew low overhead while passengers stood on deck and raised two babies aloft. The
newspaper suggested that the carrier may have been the ship Charles de Gaulle, which it said
was in the vicinity on the date in question. The French have denied the claim. The boat, which
was unable to get any closer to the carrier, drifted for 16 days and only 10 of its passengers

6. CurtisForte
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survived. International maritime law requires that anyone, including the military, that spots a
vessel in distress must go to its aid where possible. Nato said that the only carrier in the area at
the time was the Italian ship Garibaldi, and that it was 100 nautical miles out to sea. "Therefore
any claims that a Nato aircraft carrier spotted then ignored the vessel in distress are wrong," said
Carmen Romero, a spokeswoman for the alliance.”6
A possible interpretation is that the survivor’s accounts are true and that all countries in
question avoided rescue efforts due to negative stereotypes of African refugees. These
stereotypes depict African refugees as disease ridden and resource taxing individuals who require
a lot of assistance, not to mention that in international waters they are considered outsiders to the
country they are trying to enter. It is this ethnocentric belief in one’s country that can lead to
selfishness and avoidance of situational events like this. I do not agree with the interpretation that
is depicted in the news report because I don’t believe war refugees would lie about seeing ships
or planes when they are facing a crisis. My evaluation of this event is that due to differing
cultural encounters between Libya and other countries that the aiding countries in question
purposely avoided saving these refugees because they saw no gain in it. This may be a radical
evaluation in the sense that it is very unethical, but I stand by it given my examination of Italian
and Libyan culture.
We have attempted to understand the many complexities underlying Refugee migration
between Libya and Italy and as a result, we have examined them through many lenses. By
looking at each country’s past history and examining the effects and implications that have
resulted, I believe it is easier to see why Intercultural conflict exists between these countries with
regards to this event. We employed the use of 2 Hofstede dimensions, in order to get a better
sense of the cultures involved and we constructed a mini D.I.E. analysis of a social episode that

7. CurtisForte
11/22/14
Adams
recurs daily in the Mediterranean Sea. As an intercultural student I can only hope that Libyan
and Italian relations will improve. There is hope among members of the U.N. and NATO to rev
up efforts in the form of International Refugee assistance plans, but I fear that ethnocentrism will
be the death of such plans.

8. CurtisForte
11/22/14
Adams
Works Cited
Event:
11.)(n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/special-
features/2014/10/141031-italy-immigration-crisis-human-trafficking/
6.)(n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ship-with-
600-people-aboard-sinks-as-refugees-flee-from-libya-2281595.html
1.)Hanrahan,M. (2011, May 9). Libyan Migrants' Boat Sinks: Witnesses Say Ship With 600 Aboard Sunk
Near Tripoli. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/09/libya-boat-
sinks-migrants_n_859440.html
Culture (Non-Scholarly):
2.)Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Libya.html
8.)Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Italy.html
Culture (Scholarly):
4.)Lorenzo Del Castillo (2011) Italian–Libyan relations, Criminal Justice Matters,85:1, 4-5, DOI:
10.1080/09627251.2011.599615
7.)Mezran, K., & Maio, P. (n.d.). Between the Past and the Future: Has a Shift in Italian–Libyan Relations
Occurred? The Journal of North African Studies, 439-451.
Additional Sources:
12.)Mare Nostrum. (2014, November 17). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Nostrum
9.)THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://geert-
hofstede.com/libya.html
10.)THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://geert-
hofstede.com/italy.html
3.)Southern Italy. (2014, November 21). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Italy
5.)International Organization for Migration. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
https://www.iom.int/cms/libya