Tribal power in modern-day Libya

In a commentary entitled “Haftar, Tribal Power, and the Battle for Libya” published on 15 May with War On The Rocks, Alison Pargeter demonstrates how alliances between Khalifa Haftar and tribes have enabled him to strengthen its power in Eastern Libya and penetrate Western Libya. In doing so, Pargeter highlights the importance of tribes in modern-day Libya’s social and political structures. Pargeter sheds some particularly interesting comments on the Government of National Accord (GNA) difficulty to regain control of Western Libya in case of a military victory against the Libyan National Army (LNA) given that alliances were made between the LNA and local Western tribes, allowing for the LNA’s penetration in the Tripoli area.Click here to read the article.