Libya

Three Years On, Arab Transitions Remain Incomplete

Three years after a wave of popular uprisings swept aside long-standing regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen, the future of the region remains uncertain. The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East held a panel discussion on March 11th to discuss the current state of the Arab transitions to look ahead at economic and […]

It’s Not Too Late For Libya

By Danya Greenfield

Secretary John Kerry’s attendance at the Rome Ministerial Conference on Libya last Thursday is a positive—and much-needed—signal of renewed US attention to that troubled country.

Dispatch: Libya’s Rome Conference

By Karim Mezran

Libya’s international partners and allies gathered in Rome yesterday in a show of support for the North African country’s transition to democracy since Qaddafi’s ouster in 2011.

Libya’s Parallel Tracks Could Avert a Train Wreck

By Karim Mezran and Lara Talverdian

For months now, Libya has found itself in a deteriorating security situation that hampers political progress. Since the revolution in 2011, Libyan authorities and their international partners regarded the country’s security challenges as the source of the problem rather than a symptom of deeply rooted political woes. 

Foreign Minister Steinmeier on Possible Shift in German Foreign Policy

By Christiane Hoffmann and Ralf Neukirch, Spiegel

Excerpts from interview with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier conducted by Christiane Hoffmann and Ralf Neukirch.

National Security Initiatives Needed to Safeguard Libyan Democracy

By Ayat Mneina

The month of February this year does not only mark the anniversary of the uprising, but it will also be a month of intense debate that will determine Libya’s political future: the drafting of the constitution. While Libya’s leaders will take some major political decisions this month, Libya’s security problems persist and present serious challenges […]

The economic consequences of the Arab Spring

By Mohsin Khan

In a new issue brief, Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Mohsin Khan contends that although political turmoil has dominated economic decision-making in the Arab transition countries and Jordan and Morocco during the last three years, there is some encouraging evidence that these economies will turn around in 2014. Analyzing economic developments in the Arab transition […]

The state of Arab transitions: Hope resilient despite many unmet demands

By Mirette F. Mabrouk and Stefanie A. Hausheer

Report authors Mirette F. Mabrouk, deputy director for regional programs, and Stefanie A. Hausheer, assistant director, examine the progress in achieving the original demands of protestors and contend that local actors would embrace greater international support to help facilitate genuine transitions. By examining six key themes—political polarization, constitution-drafting processes, transitional justice, economic progress, civil society […]

Dispatch: A Critical Time for Libya

By Karim Mezran

The February 7 deadline for the General National Congress (GNC) has passed with news trickling in of a handful of legislators resigning in protest but no significant movement to shake the country out of its political paralysis and regenerate momentum for its transition to democracy. The streets, however, are grumbling as political maneuvers continue.