Libyan Lessons for Europe

Libyan Lessons for Europe

http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=62645&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvKXNZKXonjHpfsX57uQsW6Sg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGRcR0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D
Almost five years since the start of NATO’s military intervention in Libya, there is mounting speculation that a coalition of Western countries will launch a new military campaign there to tackle the growing threat from the self-styled Islamic State.
Since the 2011 ouster of strongman leader Muammar Qaddafi, a civil war has prevented the formation of a functioning Libyan government, creating the space for both the emergence of an Islamic State–controlled area around the city of Sirte and large flows of migrants and refugees into the EU. (Over 157,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy alone since January 2015.)
No one expects the EU to bomb the Islamic State. But on the whole, Libya is a rare security challenge for which Europe should take more responsibility than other external powers such as the United States.
For one, Europeans have more direct security interests at stake in Libya, which is why France and the UK initiated the 2011 intervention. For another, NATO now seems unlikely to act, partly because the image of its 2011 intervention is tarnished among some Libyans due to a lack of follow-up, and partly because the alliance is busy deterring Russia in Eastern Europe. Plus Libya is much less geopolitically contentious than Syria, where Iranian- and Russian-backed forces face off against Western- and Saudi-supported factions.http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=62645&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvKXNZKXonjHpfsX57uQsW6Sg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGRcR0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D