Mohammad Salih Alzawahreh
ABSTRACT
This study explores the international intervention in Libya between 2011 and 2021, and examines the relationship between power interests and Libyan internal conflicts. The research adopts an analytical descriptive approach and concludes that the ongoing conflict in Libya is a result of the deteriorating political, economic, and security conditions in the country. The study highlights the importance of resolving internal disputes through more international efforts, rather than fueling them.
The 2011 Libyan revolution is identified as a key factor in the continuity of the crisis and the difficulty in finding a solution that satisfies all parties involved. The study concludes that the power interests of external actors have played a significant role in supporting the growing power of Haftar, exacerbating the already complex situation in Libya.
INTRODUCTION
Since the dawn of human existence, the impact of conflicts on humans had been a persistent issue that had arisen as a result of conflicts in general, but the impact is amplified if conflicts are accompanied by any form of violence. Libya was impacted by the Arab Spring events, and the revolution began in 2011 because of the Libyan youth’s unemployment, poverty, and lack of liberties.
Libyan revolutionaries succeeded in assassinating Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and toppling his regime, but their revolution was not completed with the establishment of the desired state, so it entered new political turning points, symbolized by the emergence of security chaos and internal conflict, which were fueled by external forces seeking to put an end to the revolution.
Since the collapse of previous President Muammar Gaddafi’s government, Libya had faced instability, political disagreement, and a severe economic crisis, as well as the formation of a wide rift in the state’s internal political system.
The Libyan Interim Government was established to the east, and what had exacerbated the crisis is the presence of dozens of militias and armed forces loyal to the conflict parties and competing with each other, and for years the country had been exhausted by clashes that once subsided only to return under different reasons and names, affecting the economy and public services, as well as the health sector, and causing the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
The international intervention in Libya had a number of consequences, the most notable of which was the collapse of the state’s military and security structure, which allowed for the rekindling of old tribal and regional conflicts, the majority of which revolve around political, economic, and military influence, as well as negative effects on the public scene.
This had become marked by an atmosphere of insecurity, the spread of violence and tension, and the recurrence of various crises. For a variety of reasons, Libya had become a proxy war zone for competing regional and international parties, the most important of which was those forces’ aim to govern Libya through various ways, taking advantage of internal incompatibility among the locally active groups.
It had an opportunity to fuel the internal Libyan strife in the east and west of the country. Libya is currently regarded as a fertile setting for international intervention, despite domestic divides and conflicts, particularly given the availability of oil, which is one of Libya’s most valuable natural resources. Internal confrontations are being prolonged. From an academic level, the research aims to fill the academic gap regarding international intervention in Libya between power interests and the Libyan internal conflicts in the period between (2011-2021).
The research seeks to achieve the following objectives:
- a. Studying the economic, political and security reality of Libya after the revolution.
- b. A statement of the most important motives and causes of internal conflicts in Libya.
- c. Identifying the most prominent international interests and interventions in Libya.
- d. Determining the future effects of international interventions in Libya and their impact on the continuation of the conflict.
The importance of the research stems from the following:
- a. Studying the subject of international interventions in Libya in light of the interests of the powers and the emergence of internal conflicts. This topic is one of the important topics that deserve to be researched due to the valuable information it provides that studies the reality of the crisis in Libya and the extent of international interventions and their interests in Libya.
- b. The importance of the research emerges by researching the causes of internal conflicts in Libya and the most important factors attracting international interventions and their declared and undeclared interests, and by addressing the most prominent implications for its political, economic and security future.
- c. The research is based on providing scientific and theoretical material that can benefit scholars as a scientific reference in this global issue.
The research problem lies in the seriousness of the security and political situation in Libya between (2011 – 2021) considering the presence of international intervention with strategic interests in Libya. In addition to what internal conflicts constitute a fertile environment for the presence of international intervention, which works to aggravate and develop these conflicts.
This requires the development of many solutions and strategies to confront and end international interference in Libya, and from here arises the problem of this research into the extent of international intervention in Libya and what are its most prominent interests in light of the emergence of internal conflicts in the Libyan state?
The research seeks to answer the following questions:
- a. What were the implications of the Libyan revolution on the economy, policy, and security in the country?
- b. What were the motives of the diverse disputants that resulted in internal conflicts in Libya?
- c. Who were the main international players on the Libyan arena, and what were their interests?
The research was based on the following hypotheses:
- a. There is a negative relationship between the emergence of the Libyan revolution and the emergence and continuation of internal conflicts in Libya.
- b. There is a negative relationship between international interventions in Libya and the emergence of many political, security and economic problems for the state.
- c. There is a positive relationship between concerted efforts to achieve security and stability in Libya on one hand, and ending the internal conflict, confronting international interference, and thwarting its interests on the other hand.
For answering the questions of this thesis and aiming to reach the desired objectives, the analytical descriptive approach is relied on by collecting information. As it is a systematic method, the researcher studies the subject in its natural form, supported in this by collecting the amount of data and information that he deems appropriate.
The researcher then clarifies the relationship between the research variables in the form of questions or hypotheses and uses the statistical analysis tools that fit the nature of the research data, followed by the development of the results, and then the researcher ends by formulating solutions, which he sees from his point of view as appropriate.
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Mohammad Salih Alzawahreh – M.A of conflict resolution – University of Jordan
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Source: Journal of Political Science and Law – Issue # 35 – March 2023 – The Democratic Arabic Center
