After the overthrow of the Qadhafi regime in 2011, Libya witnessed a dramatic breakdown of centralized power and a turbulent descent into civil war. No national institutions survived, and almost no nationwide or even regional organizations emerged among the conflicting parties. Only military strongman, Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army, has managed to overcome rivals and centralize authority over eastern Libya. As he attempts to control more of the country, forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) are engaging in combat against him. In response to escalating conflict, the UN and European countries have called for a ceasefire.
Rarely does internal division and political fragmentation occur as radically as in Libya. This has been the primary obstacle to the re-establishment of central authority. This book analyzes the forces that have shaped the country's trajectory since 2011. Questioning widely held assumptions about the role of Libya's tribes in the revolution, Wolfram Lacher sheds new light on the complex community rifts between the revolutionaries and loyalists and shows why Khalifa Haftar has been able to consolidate his sway over the northeast. Based on hundreds of interviews with key actors in the conflict, Lacher advances a new approach to the study of civil wars, placing the social ties of actors at the centre of analysis and exploring the link between violent conflict and social cohesion.