On 12 August, Arab News published an article entitled ‘Global community faces an impossible choice in Libya’, by senior analyst Hafed al-Ghwell. In his article, al-Ghwell looks at the role of the international community in light of Libya’s limited options, which he narrowed down to ‘two less than optimal outcomes’. On the one hand, he argues, Libya faces an ‘enduring status quo that is a playground for self-interested political elites, hybrid actors and serial agitators’. On the other hand, the remaining option is the formation of a unity government led by ‘the very ruling elite that has repeatedly thwarted the country’s post-2011 aspirations’. According to al-Ghwell, this leaves the global community in the ‘testing position of having to choose the lesser of two evils’. He concludes by stressing that the international community can still make a meaningful contribution to Libya’s stability through ‘proactive involvement’ and ‘a delicate balance’, which can be achieved through ‘reassessing priorities, aligning regional interests and focusing on long-term solutions rather than short-term gains’.
Read the full article here.