Libya

Libya

With its proximity to Europe, its significant oil reserves, and its strategic importance to the stability of the North Africa region, the ongoing turmoil in Libya is a concern for the United States and its allies. Rival factions serving as proxies to competing regional powers continue to destabilize the country and hamper any national dialogue efforts. The role of the United States and Europe will be essential in encouraging dialogue, supporting the arms embargo, and contributing to any post-war economic revitalization plan.

Featured commentary & analysis

Why Libya Sceptics Were Proved Badly Wrong

MENASource
Jul 1, 2026

Libya doesn’t need another elite bargain

By
Karim Mezran

The US blessing of a power-sharing arrangement for Libya preserves a fragile stability today while increasing the risk of a much larger crisis tomorrow.

Libya
Political Reform

Why Libya Sceptics Were Proved Badly Wrong

MENASource
May 26, 2026

An oil windfall will not fix Libya’s economy

By
Ahmed Shalghoum and Frank Talbot

Libya’s new unified budget needs transparency, accountability, and oversight to deliver for the people.

Economy & Business
Libya

Why Libya Sceptics Were Proved Badly Wrong

MENASource
May 15, 2026

The problem with the US power-sharing plan for Libya

By
Karim Mezran, Dario Cristiani

The nascent US initiative may succeed in reducing tensions and creating a slightly more predictable environment for foreign businesses, but a structural transformation remains out of reach.

Corruption
Libya

Programs

Perspectives on North Africa

The North Africa Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East analyzes the strategic, political, and economic importance of the region for the United States and its allies. Since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, North Africa has undergone political and economic transformations that have impacted stability and security in the region. With its geographic crossroad between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, North Africa continues to be an integral partner in addressing shared interests and concerns.

Learn more about the Middle East programs

Middle East Programs

Working with our allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

EXPLORE THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL’S MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMS

Content

New Atlanticist

Aug 25, 2011

Why Libya Sceptics Were Proved Badly Wrong

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

Let us do a thought experiment. Imagine the UN did not vote to authorise the use of force in Libya in March. Nato did nothing; Colonel Muammer Gaddafi over-ran Benghazi; the US stood by; the Libyan opposition was reduced to sporadic uprisings, quickly crushed. The regimes in Yemen and Syria took note, and put down […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Aug 24, 2011

Learning Lessons from the Splendid Little War in Libya

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

NATO’s intervention in Libya looks easy in retrospect, now that Muammar Gaddafi is on the run from victorious rebel forces. No US or NATO forces were shot down over the skies in Libya and no US boots were put on the ground. America’s European allies and partners carried a heavy share of the burden in […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Aug 24, 2011

Libya, Egypt, and Syria: “The LES Countries”

By Harlan Ullman

The term “BRICs” is a virtual cliche. Brazil, Russia, India and China were lumped together as the globe’s “emerging” economic dynamos. Now, if even handedness applies to politics, we should declare the “LES” countries, drawn together by public rebellion against decades of autocratic rule. Libya, Egypt and Syria are the charter members. Whether what happens […]

Libya North Africa

New Atlanticist

Aug 23, 2011

Libya Not NATO Comeback

By Kurt Volker

One can only cheer at what now seems to be the removal of Muammar al-Qaddafi from power, at the hands of his own long-abused people. And one must commend the NATO special forces and air power — particularly from Britain, France, and the United States — which helped bring about this outcome.

Libya NATO

New Atlanticist

Aug 23, 2011

Libya After Gaddafi: Lessons From Iraq 2003

By James Joyner

The end of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime appears near. Regardless of one’s views on the wisdom of American intervention, that’s cause for celebration.

Libya

New Atlanticist

Aug 22, 2011

The End of Gaddafi Isn’t the End of the Argument

By James Joyner

Is it time for those who criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the Libya intervention to eat crow?

Libya

New Atlanticist

Aug 22, 2011

Libya: Implementing the Peace

By Julian Lindley-French

Funny how history plays games. On this day in England in 1485 King Richard III lost the battle of Bosworth Field to Henry Tudor. The rest, as they say is history. In Shakespeare’s play the defeated king pleads for a horse so he can flee. I would imagine Colonel (soon-to-be retired) Gaddafi probably wishes for […]

Libya United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Aug 22, 2011

NATO Proves Critics Wrong

By Barry Pavel

The naysayers were in abundance during this long, hot summer in Washington, Brussels, and other major capitals. They said that NATO’s no-fly zone, and the rebel military operations in Libya which NATO was aiding, were ineffective. NATO was running out of ammunition.

Libya NATO

New Atlanticist

Aug 21, 2011

Libya: Carpe Diem Europe!

By Julian Lindley-French

 “No-one starts a war-or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so-without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” Karl von Clausewitz  Make no mistake; what is happening in Libya right now has the most profound of grand strategic […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2011

Under NATO’s Flag: an Interim Assessment of the Mission in Libya (Part Three)

By Vladimir Socor

As in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Western coalition intervened in Libya with only a weak grasp of the local society.

Libya NATO
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Experts

Fellow

Alhussain Abdalla

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Africa Center

Africa Arabic

Fellow

Alia Brahimi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Nicholas Hopton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia Iran
Josh Kirshner is a nonresident senior fellow in the GeoStrategy Initiative at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Fellow

Josh Kirshner

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Arms Control Defense Policy

Fellow

Alessia Melcangi

Nonresident Senior Fellow, North Africa Program

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
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