The Libyan crisis: internal power rivalries and foreign entanglements

Abstract EN

Libya did not harvest the fruits of democratization or economic progress the "Arab Spring" was supposed to bring to this country after the brutal downfall of Muammar Gadhafi's regime in 2011.

Instead, it generated political chaos, violence, a de facto territorial fragmentation of this country and a severe economic recession.

The current quagmire of Libya was not due to the failure of the popular protest as such, but to the nature of the political system based on authoritarian rule, tribalism, rent economy and the meddling of foreign powers in the internal affairs of this country.

As long as a modern civilian society based on political consensus and loyalties to the Nation-State and not to tribes, regions or external alignements does not emerge, distorted political configuration, heavy reliance on oil exports and foreign interferences will continue to threaten Libya's political cohesion and territorial integrity.