Middle East

Is Libya’s “Skhirat” Agreement Really Dead?

By Karim Mezran

The Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB)’s recent successful offensive conducted against the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the Gulf of Sidra—in which it seized the oil ports and terminals of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider—leads one to consider its effects on the Skhirat agreement. This is the agreement that produced the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) and […]

Negotiating Peace in Libya

In order to end the civil war in Libya, those competing for power must meet, negotiate, and establish a path to free and fair elections early in 2018, Jonathan Winer, a former US State Department special envoy for Libya, said at the Atlantic Council on March 9. The three factions claiming sole legitimacy and authority […]

Saudi’s Purist Salafi Drive into Southeast Asia

By H.A. Hellyer

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is currently engaged in a tour in Asia, which will last about a month. Five out of six of the countries he is visiting are Muslim majority nations (the sixth, China, has a significant and ancient Muslim minority population). While there is undoubtedly a financial and economic aspect […]

Libya’s Profitable Business of War

By Mohamed Fouad and Emadeddin Muntasser

The collapse of the Libyan government under Gaddafi, exposed a lack of transparency and accountability that were part of Gaddafi’s oppressive and corrupt economy. The post-revolution political bickering weakened Libyan institutions further and left no clear system of governance or way of managing competition over Libyan oil, financial, and security sectors.