Publication

This brief reviews the political and security problems now afflicting Libya and recommends four ways that Western actors should respond. The recommendations include 1) understanding Libya's fragility more thoroughly than the present; 2) not allowing internal politics in either the US or Europe to thwart needed stabilization efforts within the country; 3) encouraging greater involvement in Libya by prominent MENA states; and 4) preparing to use a stabilization force that would also have a post-conflict peacebuilding component to it. Indeed, without the intervention of such a force, the prospects for a lasting peace in Libya are poor.