Libya: Political Fragmentation, War and Foreign Intervention

Date and time: May 26, 2020, 1 pm British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Register here.

Speakers:

• Dr Wolfram Lacher, senior associate, German Institute for International and Security Affairs; author, Libya’s Fragmentation: Structure and Process in Violent Conflict
• Tarek Megerisi, policy fellow, North Africa and Middle East Programme, European Council on Foreign Relations
• Hanan Salah, senior Libya researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

Moderator: Tim Eaton, senior research fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House

Libya’s third bout of civil war in a decade began when Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) launched an offensive on Tripoli in April 2019. The conflict remains ongoing and has intensified in recent weeks. Warring Libyan armed factions, broadly aligned with either the internationally recognized Government of National Accord or the LAAF, have become increasingly reliant on foreign support to prosecute their war effort.

In this webinar, part of the MENA Programme’s Online Event Series, the panelists will examine the trajectory of the war and its increasing human costs, while assessing the prospects for international mediation. The discussion will also reflect back on the forces that have shaped Libya’s trajectory since 2011. What motivations and grievances are driving the country’s warring parties? How can this war be explained beyond a scramble for the control of Libya’s oil wealth?