Libya: a contemporary conflict in a failing state
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Authors
Basic, Alija
Subjects
Libya
militias
armed groups
Arab Spring
state failure
Islamism
Ansar al-Sharia
insurgency
Islamic State
ISIS
militias
armed groups
Arab Spring
state failure
Islamism
Ansar al-Sharia
insurgency
Islamic State
ISIS
Advisors
Hafez, Mohammed
Date of Issue
2015-03
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
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Abstract
The Arab Spring spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and what started in hope quickly devolved into struggles for formal and informal power. Violence in Libya was intensified by institutions’ inabilities to maintain governance, contain violence, and quell the rise of armed groups. Power in Libya is in constant contention by opportunistic tribal and regional militias, Islamist groups, and government and military power brokers. Libya is on the verge of becoming a failed state; allowing Libya to fail will have local, regional, and international repercussions. The challenge is to understand why the loosely formed alliances between government and tribal, regional, and Islamist militias are falling apart. The introduction of the Islamic State in Libya increases the urgency for these disparate groups to resolve their differences. This thesis concludes that Gaddafi nurtured a sentiment of distrust between the people, Islamists, and government institutions. This trust deficit in post-revolutionary Libya has stymied cooperation and progress. Any meaningful solutions will have to address the core issue of social trust, the emergence of the Islamic State, and economic weakness before reconciliation or reforms can occur.
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Thesis
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Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.