Post-Qadhafi Libya Research Articles

Competitive Statehood in Libya: Governing Differently a Specific Setting or Deconstructing its Weak Sovereign State with a Fateful Drift Toward Chaos?

Libya in 2011 witnessed a real process of political change, though different from all the policy-oriented jargon equating transition with a teleological transition to democracy. Due to the resilience of the Qadhafi regime in power and with the essential role of NATO intervention, the process was eased out by a eight-month civil war. Governance in post-Qadhafi Libya was not done through the rebuilding of centralized authorities. But it took the specific form of the emergence of multiple non-state actors embedded in local dynamics and then connected with weakened central authorities that had access to the huge Libyan resources. That raised complex questions about the quality of this mode of governance, especially at a time of pressing problems for Libya and its neighbors, whether direct ones (Tunisia, Egypt, Mali) or farther countries across the Mediterranean sea: terrorism with the expansion of Da’esh into the country and flows of refugees crossing Libya’s uncontrolled borders and flowing into Italy and then Europe by thousands.

Contested Governance: Understanding Justice Interventions in Post-Qadhafi Libya

ABSTRACTThis contribution reflects upon the nexus between transitional justice and peacebuilding through a study of how transitional justice practices in post-Qadhafi Libya interacted with broader efforts to establish governance institutions in the aftermath of Libya’s 2011 armed conflict. It argues that dominant practices of transitional justice, promoted by external actors, prescribed narrow state-centric justice interventions that were ill-suited for a polity in which the state was highly contested. In fact, transitional justice proved divisive in Libya because attempts to project state-centric liberal justice practices were limited by their targeting of weak institutions that lacked local legitimacy and their inability to reconcile alternative normative frameworks that challenge the modern state. In addition, the weakness of Libya’s state institutions allowed thuwwar, or revolutionary armed groups, to dictate an exclusionary form of justice known as political isolation. Drawn from fieldwork conducted in Libya, this contribution provides lessons for both peacebuilding and transitional justice practice that call for a rethinking of teleological notions of transition and greater engagement with notions and concepts that fall outside dominant practices.

Decentralising authoritarianism? The international intervention, the new ‘revolutionaries’ and the involution of Post-Qadhafi Libya

In 2011, Libya became the only country of the Arab Uprisings where NATO and the Arab League intervened militarily, ostensibly to protect the civilian population, but in reality in support of the opposition National Transitional Council. This article argues that, since 2011, Libya has transitioned from Qadhafi’s centralised authoritarianism to a new decentralised authoritarianism where multiple centres of power coexist and sometimes overlap, while leaving room only for formal democratic institutions. This is the result of decisions taken by the ‘revolutionaries’ after the overthrow of the dictator, and a consequence of long-standing features of the Libyan state and society.

The external dimension of Libya's troubled transition: the international community and ‘democratic knowledge’ transfer

What are the sources of democratic knowledge in a context devoid of relevant experience and institutions? More than other Arab Spring states, Libya lacked the ingredients for successful democratisation. Yet, Libya's Arab Spring uprising was also unique in that external actors, Western and Arab, supported it through military intervention. Why was the international community's successful intervention to protect civilians and help overthrow the Qadhafi regime not translated into creating the conditions for stability, security, and the construction of democratic institutions after that regime fell? This article analyses the international dimension of Libya's transition and argues that the potential for external actors to be effective sources of democratic knowledge in post-Qadhafi Libya was severely constrained from the outset by the absence of leverage and linkages, two key factors highlighted in research on the international dimension of democratisation.

Mobilized publics in Post-Qadhafi Libya: the emergence of new modes of popular protest in Tripoli and Ubari

As the formal transformation process in Libya faltered and political and local elites were locked in contestation over shares of power and resources, spaces opened for non-formal movements of citizens pushing to exert influence on the political sphere, and to pursue their interests vis-à-vis state institutions with hitherto unknown forms of contentious action. This article investigates two distinctively different examples of such initiatives: on the one hand, the movement against militia rule and the extension of the mandate of the General National Congress (GNC) that emerged in Tripoli in the fall of 2013 and organized demonstrations for new elections throughout the spring of 2014. On the other, a movement for more equitable access to resources and citizenship rights that emerged in the provincial town of Ubari in the Fezzan region and gained momentum in late 2013 through the (largely peaceful) disruption of oil production. The chapter argues that through their mobilization capacities and innovative forms of contentious action, both movements compelled political and institutional actors to recognize mobilized publics as a force to reckon with, and modify the ways they interact with citizens and the general public.

Libyan Arms and Regional Instability

As security continues to be a primary challenge in post-Qadhafi Libya, the availability of weapons to nearby opposition groups and armed insurgencies is a source of major concern for Libya’s neighbours and the international community. Uncontrolled weapons proliferation and the rise of new armed groups have gone hand in hand across various conflict fronts. While what is known about weapons acquisition dynamics does not make it possible to establish a strict causal relationship, by observing variations in the various contexts, critical factors can be identified, such as the emergence of a protection market, the multiplication of tactical options and splintering processes, which facilitate comprehension of how greater circulation of weapons is related to regional volatility and destabilisation.

EU Strategic Interests in Post‐Qadhafi Libya: Perspectives for Cooperation

EU Strategic Interests in Post‐Qadhafi Libya: Perspectives for Cooperation

Libyan constitutionality and sovereignty post-Qadhafi: the Islamist, regionalist, and Amazigh challenges

Since the overthrow of Muammar Qadhafi, Libya's political and security institutions have suffered from a power vacuum. The interim governments' absence of ‘real power’ has been mirrored by their corresponding absence of ‘abstract authority’. Both dynamics are indicative of an ongoing struggle over what constitutes sovereign, legitimate authority in post-Qadhafi Libya. From the National Transitional Council's (NTC's) inception until its handover of power, it claimed to possess ‘temporary’ sovereign authority – sufficient to administer Libya and define the rules of the post-Qadhafi transitional phase. Throughout the protracted constitutional drafting process, the country has been ‘governed’ according to the Temporary Constitutional Declaration (TCD) issued by the NTC in August 2011. Amendments to – and popular contestation of – the TCD have constrained Libya's political evolution, impeded the constitutional drafting process, and impinged upon the legitimacy of the General National Congress (GNC)– the NTC's successor body. This article will illustrate how and why the TCD was contested by Islamists, federalists, and certain Berber groups. Our use of copious Arabic primary source material allows the views of these groups to be presented in their own words. The NTC's responses to its challengers reveal a distinct pattern: it attempted to incorporate Islamists into its framework, it appeased Cyrenaican federalists, and it ignored the grievances of Berber activists. The implications of this highly unbalanced strategy remain at the core of Libya's present instability and the GNC's inability to stand up against its myriad challengers.

Rebels with a pen: observations on the newly emerging media landscape in Libya

The role of social media as a catalyst of the ‘Arab Spring’ has been subject to much debate – both by academics and the press. Likewise, the impact of international media, such as Al-Jazeera, has been thoroughly examined elsewhere. While acknowledging the significance of these players, this article explores the emergence of a new landscape of local print and broadcast media in revolutionary Libya that is both the result of the dramatic changes that the country has undergone and one of their facilitators. This article analyses the political impact of these new forms of media during and after the 2011 Libyan uprisings, with an emphasis on how the role and the self-image of journalists and media producers has evolved alongside with Libya's political transformation. It is demonstrated that the new Libyan media began their life as ‘partisan advocates’ and that different societal currents are now struggling to set the new role of media. It concludes with an analysis of the newly implemented legal framework and institutions which govern the Libyan media. It remains unclear if recent legislation will protect independent media from the authorities or, conversely, allow the state to exert censorship and consolidate its ownership over the media. This article analyses the various approaches to media jurisdiction prevalent in post-Qadhafi Libya as reflecting various degrees of state intervention. This discussion reflects the inherent contradictions of a society which, with very little preparation, has had to manage the change from conditions of absolute governmental control to conditions of relative anarchy.

Post-Qadhafi Libya: interactive dynamics and the political future

Libya's contemporary history has been dominated by the interplay of the perpetual dynamics of religion, tribalism, oil and ideology. After 42 years in power Qadhafi was killed at the hands of revolutionaries and the final chapter of his dictatorial reign was terminated. With direct and powerful support from NATO and some Arab governments the revolution, led by the National Transitional Council and military councils in many Libyan cities, was another reflection of the supremacy of the perpetual dynamics. The purpose of this article is to examine the interaction of these dynamics and how they are echoed in post-Qadhafi Libya. An assessment is made of the manifestations related to these dynamics by providing a sketch of existing social and political features. This will help determine the fundamentals that shape the foreseeable future of the country and predict the role of the various political forces interacting in the field. The article is a product of direct research, analysis, eye-witness accounts and interviews in Libya with important personages and representatives of powerful currents now currently competing on the scene and vying for influence in the determination of the future of the country after Qadhafi.