European options to de-escalate the Libyan civil war

Three years after the fall of Gaddafi’s regime, Libya seems to be transitioning from one civil war to another. The fighting that started in May of this year has already claimed thousands of lives, created 400,000 internally displaced people and brought what was left of the country’s institutions to its knees. Two alternative governments compete for power, one in Tripoli and one in Tobruk – the latter, recognised by the outside world, was recently struck down by a Supreme Court verdict. The growing violence and anarchy in the country sitting just 350 km south of the EU brings huge suffering on its people while creating multiple threats for Europe. Can Europeans adopt a strategy to de-escalate the fighting and rebuild Libya’s institutions?

Abdul Rahman Al Ageli is co-founder of the Libyan Youth Forum and formerly security advisor at the Office of the Libyan Prime Minister and Deputy Head of the inter-ministerial committee on border affairs.

Wolfram Lacher is an associate in the Middle East and Africa division of SWP (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik/German Institute for International and Security Affairs) in Berlin and recently published with Peter Cole “Politics by other means” on Libya’s security sector.

Mattia Toaldo is a policy fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme at ECFR and a member of the Society for Libyan Studies. He has analysed US and European policy in Libya since 2004. He recently published “Libya, the four things that matter more than recognition”.