Washington, D.C. — Five years after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya continues to face severe political and security concerns. It has struggled to form a unified state and allowed for the Islamic State, or IS, to infiltrate its borders, relying on unregulated militias that are as often at odds with each other as they are with IS. Libya also has an active criminal underground, which it must confront.
The Center for American Progress has released a report that examines the security issues plaguing Libya and offers recommendations for the United States, its allies, and other states in the region to take in order to help Libya from devolving into a failed state.
“Libya, since the fall of Gadhafi, has suffered from political fragmentation and a lack of central security,” said Bill Danvers, CAP Senior Fellow and author of the report. “Three governing bodies are jockeying for power while unregulated militia groups compete for control. If Libya is to survive, it must find a way to combat IS, unify under one government, and take control of the militia groups currently preventing a coherent and functional national security structure, as well as stop the criminal underground that has plagued Libya for years.”
The report recommends that the United States, Europe, and Libya’s neighbors offer the technical and financial support needed to bring security and stability to Libya. The report offers three main areas where those efforts should be focused:
- Defeating IS
- Addressing the militia problem
- Fighting crime and crime networks
Click here to read the report.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.