Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 12/2012

The International Role in Libya's Transition

Emily O’Brien

July 2012

Center on International Cooperation

Abstract

CIC’s last report The Libyan War: A Diplomatic History presented a record of the international community’s diplomatic engagement over Libya, from the first international responses to the uprising there in February 2011 to the eve of the rebel assault on Tripoli in August 2011. This report picks up where the last left off, and tracks international efforts to stabilize the country and begin the process of reintegrating it into the international community, ending with the Security Council’s decision to renew UNSMIL’s mandate for a year in March 2012. Although there have been important developments in Libya since March, the goal of this report is to highlight that international assistance to the country after Gaddafi’s fall was wide-ranging and important — even if it received relatively little publicity. In a period in which the future of large-scale international interventions is in doubt, the Libyan case may offer precedents for future post-conflict situations.