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MENASource

Apr 24, 2014

The Political Process in Libya

By Karim Mezran

Libya’s road to democracy is shaky at best. Security is deteriorating, with targeted killings, criminal attacks, and bombings on the rise and clashes between rival armed groups—some apparently with government legitimacy and others not—growing more frequent. While these negative trends put tremendous pressure on the transition, Libya’s political process, albeit fickle, manages to keep moving. […]

Libya

MENASource

Apr 23, 2014

Libya’s Faltering Political Process

By Duncan Pickard and Karim Mezran

The transition to democracy in Libya always has been a tenuous affair, but with the start of constitution drafting, the process as imagined is falling apart. The lack of national political leadership, security infrastructure, and public credibility in the state form a vicious circle. Nonetheless, opportunities to move the transition forward exists if the political […]

Libya

MENASource

Apr 2, 2014

Is Local Government in Libya the Solution?

By Mahmoud Bader

As Libya faces numerous challenges with the existence of federalists and militia groups, the question of decentralization grows in urgency. Libyans need to bolster local government in an effort to leave their past behind and meet their everyday needs, but lacks the adequate legal and constitutional framework to ensure better governance.

Libya

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2014

A Dangerous Lapse: US, EU Lose Focus on Arab Democracy

By New Atlanticist

The crisis over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated this week’s EU-US Summit in Brussels, followed by the topics that had been intended as top priorities for the meeting: negotiations for a broad transatlantic trade partnership and Europe’s anger at how pervasively it has been spied upon by the US National Security Agency. Missing from the […]

European Union International Organizations

MENASource

Mar 28, 2014

MENASource Discussions: Libya Through the Eyes of its Activists

By MENASource

As concerns grow about the marginalization of women in the Arab transitions, the Atlantic Council convened a discussion last week featuring four prominent Libyan women activists to highlight the challenges and opportunities facing Libya as it struggles to forge a path forward.

Libya

MENASource

Mar 24, 2014

Social Bonds Hold Libya Together, But Stronger Political Bonds Needed to Prosper

By Fadel Lamen

Recent foreign reporting of Libya would suggest that we are on the brink of a civil war. The departure of Prime Minister Zeidan, the inability of the central government to prevent the escape of a mystery oil tanker laden with Libyan oil, the fighting in Sirte: taken together, these portend, in the eyes of outside […]

Libya

MENASource

Mar 18, 2014

Navy SEAL Action Behind Words in Support of Libyan Institutions

By Karim Mezran

In the early hours of Monday, March 17 in the Mediterranean, US Navy SEALS seized the tanker that just a few days earlier infamously loaded illicitly-obtained oil from an eastern oil field and escaped from Libyan authorities. Many have decried the move, authorized by President Barack Obama, as a breach of Libyan sovereignty and a […]

Libya

In the News

Mar 17, 2014

Greenfield on US Involvement in Libya

By Danya Greenfield

The Wall Street Journal quotes Rafik Hariri Center Acting Director Danya Greenfield on US involvement in Libya’s political transition:

Libya

MENASource

Mar 13, 2014

Libya: A Tanker, a Fallen Prime Minister, and a Transition in Question

By Karim Mezran and Lara Talverdian

Months of political wrangling in Libya between an enfeebled government and a fractured legislature culminated this week in a vote by the General National Congress (GNC) to remove Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from office. Zeidan spent much of his tenure on the defensive, accumulating political baggage that stifled any chance of relegitimizing the state. 

Libya

In the News

Mar 13, 2014

Mezran on Why Libya Matters

By Karim Mezran

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Karim Mezran and co-author Mattia Toaldo write for The Hill on why Libya is important to the international community:

Libya
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Experts

Expert bio

Nicholas Hopton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia Iran

Fellow

Emadeddin Badi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict

Fellow

Alia Brahimi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Alessia Melcangi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society English

Staff

Karim Mezran

Director, Resident Senior Fellow, North Africa Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Economy & Business
Emily Milliken

Staff

Emily Milliken

Associate Director, Media and Communications, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Libya
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