Turkey and Russia Are at War, and Libya’s the Loser
The failed siege of Tripoli is an opening for peace, but only if the outside players end their proxy war.
Shake on it?
Photographer: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
The long-running Libyan civil war appears to be staggering toward a finale. In recent days, the forces of General Khalifa Haftar, who controls the marginalized east and south of the country, have been forced to withdraw from their stalled offensive against the capital, Tripoli. It is a triumph for the internationally recognized Government of National Unity, led by the elected prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj.
But the fighting is not simply a domestic issue — Libya’s civil war has become a proxy for regional and global power geopolitics. It is also a legacy of the way in which the West abandoned the country a decade ago.