Increased Illegitimacy, Manifest Lack of Sovereignty

Even with the HoR’s mandate theoretically extended, the implications of missing the October 20 deadline and consequent unravelling of political institutions in Tobruk have actually not receded. This fact must be deeply contemplated by the international community to derive the necessary resolve to act firmly and swiftly.The implications of inaction should be manifest. For starters, the rumor that Khalifa Haftar, the HoR appointed Chief of Staff, could resort to a military coup to take control of the eastern bloc is likely founded on a heavy dose of reality. As alluded to by Karim Mezran in a recent post for MENASource , this could open the door to further instability across the broader North Africa region, precipitating Libya in an even deeper existential crisis and quite possibly leading to Egyptian intervention, the trifrucation of the country into a Haftar/Federalist zone in the East, an ISIS zone in the center, and a Misratan, Berber, and moderate Islamist-dominated zone in the West. That this scenario could come to increasingly resemble a less violent Syria, but with the complete lapse of sovereignty and state structures. This should give many Western decision makers pause and spur them to action.