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The Libyan Crisis

Amr Wagdy

On 24 December 2022, Libyans celebrated the 71st anniversary of their country’s independence, in light of the sharp political division the country has been experiencing since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011. Read More

What are Haftar’s real intentions in Libya?

Ufuk Necat Tasci

The 24th of December marked Libya’s independence day, which was widely celebrated by Libyans and prominent political figures with joy and positivity. However, the day also has another significance; it was the postponed date for Libya’s long-awaited elections in 2021. Read More

The Tuareg: Literature, Language & Culture

Mustafa Abdullah Abdulrahman Bashir

The term “Tuareg” refers to tribes and nomads who speak dialects of Tuareg and live in Targa, an area in southwest Libya recently renamed Wadi Al-Hayat but previously known as Wadi Ajal. Read More

Why elections won’t happen in Libya

Asma Khalifa

The 2021 agreement on holding elections was perceived by many Libyans as the light at the end of the dark tunnel of civil war and a reset to the political stagnation and the legal crisis. Read More

Policing the Police (IV)

The EU’s Struggle to Strengthen the Libyan Security Sector

Matteo Colombo & Nienke van Heukelingen

Rethinking the EU approach

How can the EU turn the tide and actually support Libya in strengthening and rebuilding a national police force? Based on our interviews and desk research, we identified three avenues that the EU could explore. Read More

Libya: Hold commanders of Tariq Ben Zeyad armed (TBZ) group accountable for ‘catalogue of horrors’

An unrelenting crisis of impunity in Libya has enabled fighters of the Tariq Ben Zeyad (TBZ) armed group to commit war crimes, and other crimes under international law, with the aim of crushing any challenge to the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), the de facto authorities controlling vast swathes of the divided country, Amnesty International said today as it releases a new briefing. Read More

Police intercept British mercenaries en route to Libya

Matthew Agius & Karl Azzopardi

The private military contractors were arrested before boarding a private flight to Libya • The group were later released from arrest without charge, but were not allowed to go through Maltese airspace in transit to the war-torn North African country. Read More

Policing the Police (III)

The EU’s Struggle to Strengthen the Libyan Security Sector

Matteo Colombo & Nienke van Heukelingen

Rebuilding Libya’s Security Architecture: A Ten-Year EU Effort

The previous section showed that the situation concerning the national police in West Libya is very complex, where the absence of order equals widespread violence and, to some extent, anarchy. Read More

Through Sheer Willpower, Libyan Women Resist the Horrors of War

AbdelBaset Ghabara

On the afternoon of June 25, 2014, lawyer and human rights activist Salwa Bugaighis from the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya, called on her citizens, through live television and social media, to participate in the parliamentary elections, as a means to activate community participation and engagement, which she saw as a way to overcome the cycle of political and ideological differences and reach effective solutions and alternatives. Read More

Policing the Police (II)

The EU’s struggle to strengthen the Libyan security sector

Matteo Colombo & Nienke van Heukelingen

Contested Authority: The Libyan Police Today

Despite the current relative calm, the overall security conditions of Libya have not improved much. Read More

Policing the police (I)

The EU’s struggle to strengthen the Libyan security sector

Matteo Colombo & Nienke van Heukelingen

More than ten years after the ousting of Gaddafi, the Libyan police under the Ministry of Interior are still struggling to effectively carry out their duties across the country. Read More

What does a Libyan state even look like?

Hafed Al-Ghwell

In the decade following the collapse of the Qaddafi regime in 2011, Libya has not had a single day of peace, as varying actors persistently vie for power and control, especially over the North African country’s most lucrative export, oil. Read More

Europe recalls medieval grudges

Abdullah Alkabir

Organizing the World Cup in an Arab Muslim country sparked the spite of the European Middle Ages against the Arab-Islamic region, so media campaigns were launched disparaging Qatar, questioning its organizing capabilities, and disseminating unreal numbers of deaths among workers building World Cup facilities. Read More

Libya’s Shadow State-lords: War, Peace and the Predation of the Oil Sector (2)

Anas El-Gomati

Shadow State-lords: Infrastructure and Influence

Libya’s economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector. Oil receipts account for nearly 95% of the country’s budget, with between 60-80% of the country’s workforce on the public payroll: oil remains the backbone of the economy, whilst paradoxically fuelling the conflict that brought it to its knees. Read More

Families, Tribes and Cities in the Libyan Revolution (4)

Wolfram Lacher

Post-Qadhafi Politics

The momentous changes in the political scene raise questions concerning the nature of politics during the transitional period. Which actors are likely to dominate the transition, and along which lines will political mobilization occur? Read More

Families, Tribes and Cities in the Libyan Revolution (3)

Wolfram Lacher

Cities and Tribes

From the beginning of the revolution, there was much controversy among observers over the role of tribal allegiances. While some have described the Libyan civil war in exclusively tribal terms and argued that it will be decided by tribal loyalties, others have utterly dismissed the idea that the urban young men who led the revolution on the battlefield could attach any importance to tribal identity. Read More

How Mafiaisation Destabilises Libya’s Economy and Migration Control (2)

Tarek Megerisi

Human Traffickers: The Maritime Face of Mafiaisation

The result of the mafiaisation of Libya is a country where the government controls very little of what goes on, leaving its borders, and the management of key issues such as migration, in the hands of non-state actors or powerful international players. This in turn shaped the consolidated, mafiaised state which Libya eventually settled into. Read More