The Post-revolutionary Struggle for Economic and Financial Institutions

Abstract

Abstract This chapter’s analysis of three critical economic and financial state institutions--the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and the Organisation for the Development of Administrative Centres (ODAC)—reveals that Libyan state institutions have had a direct and material impact on the evolution of Libya’s conflict since 2011. The highly centralized nature of the Libyan economy and its dominant public sector mean that control of these institutions connotes control of Libya’s economy and ongoing access to funds inside and outside of Libya. This has placed these institutions at the heart of conflict, both violent—as a source of funding to armed actors—and non-violent, as part of the legal contestation among rivals for control. A study of the battle for control of Libya’s economic and financial institutions reveals two connected findings: first, the fragmentation of political authority in the post-revolutionary era has led to the economic and financial institutions of the Libyan state developing an unprecedented significance as power centers in their own right, albeit to varying degrees. Second, the networks benefiting from control of these institutions have proven resilient and adapted where necessary.