Neo-Liberal Peacebuilding in Libya: Sketching the Path to Reconciliation

Abstract

The post-2011 civil war and ongoing conflict in Libya has manifold spatial dimensions. The conflict has altered the social and spatial geography in the Middle East and Africa, and the involvement of external state and non-state actors has magnified the historical, social and transnational aspects of the conflict. This chapter examines the ongoing conflict between warring militias in Libya: a conflict over space, order and resources that follows in wake of Colonel Muammar al Gaddafi's 42-year rule, which was overthrown in October 2011. In order to understand the ongoing conflict in Libya, two factors are important to consider. First, it is a struggle for control over territorial space that has intensified pre-existing ethnic polarization. Second, it is a quest by the conflicting parties to establish a new order to their own advantage. This conflict has now been termed a civil war, driven by ethnic tensions and regional interferences. This chapter aims to examine the impact of post-conflict neo-liberal peacebuilding in Libya in order to sketch a path for long-term reconciliation.