Libya has been trapped in cycles of violence and political instability since the 2011 revolution. Competing factions within Libya’s political, business and military elite have spent the last decade alternating between violent conflict and ineffective power-sharing agreements. Meanwhile, foreign powers have interfered in pursuit of their own geopolitical agendas, undermining international mediation efforts by the United Nations and others. USIP’s Andrew Cheatham spoke with two Libya experts to discuss what’s behind the country’s protracted fragility crisis and how Libya can move toward peace and democratic governance.
Stephanie Williams, former special advisor on Libya to the U.N. secretary-general, discusses how the failure to demobilize, disarm and reintegrate armed groups set the stage for Libya’s current fragility crisis and explores what a truly democratic and accountable reconciliation process would look like.
Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert with the Royal United Services for Defense and Security Studies, examines the last two years of “rough” peace in the country, how foreign actors such as Russia and Turkey have shaped Libya’s fragility crisis, and the proliferation of corruption in Libyan governance.
The views and opinions expressed in these videos are those of the interviewed experts and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the U.S. Institute of Peace.
