Libya
Spoils of War
Even senior foreign diplomats who regularly meet Libya's central banker concede he remains a mystery to them. He is neither the ultimate barrier against the pillage of the Libyan state, as he himself maintains, nor the biggest culprit behind its crisis, as his enemies say.
The Battle for Libya’s Past
When I argue with friends who fought Gadhafi in 2011 that his son won’t redeem Libya from its suffering, they declare their intention to vote for him regardless. For them, and many ex-rebels like them, their former enemy has become the long-awaited champion of the people.
Libya’s Bellwether City
Misrata has always been known as a city of business. But after the revolution, when it took up arms against Moammar Gadhafi, the port city became a bellwether for the direction of Libya. At the head of the two governments that currently claim authority in Libya stand two figures from Misrata. Where Misrata goes, the rest of the country will follow.
Libya’s Escalating Power Struggle
Further escalation appears to be the path of least resistance. While a critical mass of actors favors a negotiated solution that would sideline both Dbeibah and Bashagha, there is currently no forum for talks. The U.N. has lost the initiative to Egypt, which is hosting negotiations between Libya’s two legislative bodies on a legal framework for elections.
Libya Is the Latest Sign of Never-Ending Chaos for Governments
So rather than being exotic as it used to be, Libya — with its now serially delayed election, proxy interventions, rival puppet leaders and fragmented institutions — has become completely mundane. Like the now seemingly never-ending Ukraine crisis or infinite rounds of fallout from Brexit, the latest developments in Libya are reminders of what I call in my book the Global Enduring Disorder.
At the UN, a Power Game Over Resolutions
The United Nations Security Council is meant to be the place where intractable conflicts can be resolved.As a member of an expert panel reporting to the Security Council on Libya, I saw firsthand how international politicking can make or break the resolutions that matter most — and how great powers prioritize their own ambitions over peace.
Libya’s History Spawns a Living Nightmare
Reflecting on 10 years after the Libyan revolution, Mohammed Alnaas writes about the time he almost died, living in a constant state of paranoia, taking refuge in fiction — and why he was convinced he was going to be kidnapped from Amsterdam.