]]>Authoritarian rule through patronage and repression can create political opportunities for extremists by generating popular resentment and causing local elites to abandon their state patrons, leaving a power vacuum. This disruption and disorder may take years to come to the surface. When Qaddafi seized power in 1969, Libya’s Cyrenaica region, a bastion of resistance against colonial rule and support for the former regime, became politically and economically marginalized.