[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1606”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“alt”:“New York Times”}}]]On July 7, Libyans took to the polls for the first time in more than four decades, reports The New York Times. Dirk Vandewalle, associate professor of government and adjunct associate professor at the Tuck School of Business, is in Tripoli to monitor the country’s parliamentary election.

Vandewalle, who has spent nearly 25 years studying Libya and the regime of the late Muammar Gaddafi, told the Times that so far, the Libyans had proved him wrong. “Who would have predicted a year ago that there would even be elections?” he asked.

Read the full story, published 7/7/12 by The New York Times.

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In addition to informing the Times coverage of the election, Vandewalle also spoke with The Takeaway about his reactions to the voting. “Libya has been such a surprise all along,” Vandewalle told The Takeaway. “From the beginning, when the civil war here started, there was the expectation among many people that this whole country would implode, or kind of erupt into a long lasting civil war. All of that has proven not to be true.”

Listen to the story, broadcast on 7/9/12 by The Takeaway, co-produced by WNYC Radio and Public Radio International.

CNN was also among the media outlets that turned to Vandewalle for his expertise.