While most discussions about the Libyan crisis revolve around geopolitics and international interference, internal divisions within Libya’s civil society and political institutions have also played a fundamental role in destabilizing the country since the fall of Moamar Gaddafi in 2012. Governance in Libya is fragmented with very few truly national actors. It also continues to lack political institutions that are seen by all Libyans as legitimate. The ongoing conflict consists of many contending local and tribal players, including spoilers who have demonstrated opposition to either peace or reconciliation except on the basis of total victory by their group.
What are the major obstacles to stabilization? How can Libya approach the establishment of political institutions? In what ways can the international community support a Libyan-led peace process? The Middle East Institute, the Regional Program Political Dialogue South Mediterranean of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the Policy Center for the New South are pleased to jointly host a group of experts to discuss these questions and more in a closed roundtable format.
Register to join the livestream of this discussion and submit your questions to the moderator.
Speakers:
Youness Abouyoub
Director, Governance and State-Building Division for the MENA Region, United Nations; former senior political advisor to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya
Emadeddin Badi
Nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council
Virginie Collombier
Research fellow, European University Institute
Mohamed Dorda
Co-Founder, Libya Desk
Mohamed Eljarh
Co-Founder, Libya Outlook for Research and Consulting
Mary Fitzgerald
Independent researcher
Amanda Kadlec
Founder and director, Evolve Governance
Karim Mezran
Resident senior fellow, Atlantic Council
Tarik Mgerisi
Policy fellow, North Africa and Middle East Programme, European Council on Foreign Relations
Amal Obeidi
Associate professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Political Science; faculty of Economics, University of Benghazi, Libya
Jason Pack
Nonresident scholar, Middle East Institute; founder, Libya-Analysis LLC
Jonathan Winer
Nonresident scholar, Middle East Institute; former United States Special Envoy for Libya
Len Ishmael, moderator
Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South
Photo by MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images