Research and analysis are at the core of MEDirections’ work on Libya. Through its publications and events, MEDirections has brought together researchers and practitioners to focus on some of the key dynamics affecting Libya and its neighbours since 2011.
The research is led by Virginie Collombier, whose work concentrates on processes of mediation and reconciliation, the political economy of conflicts, and security dynamics. This has included participating in major research consortium projects such as the EU-funded MENARA project and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)-HYRES project.
Latest events:
- Libya’s endless war: Tripoli’s battlefield and its impact on the south, Roundtable, 03/12/2019
- Re-thinking Libya’s Economic Conflict, Workshop, 13/02/2019
- Migration and Radicalisation in Libya: The Significance of Local Dynamics in Formulating Effective Policy Responses, Workshop, 05-06/07/2018
- Tribes and Global Jihadism, Workshop, 27/02/2018
- Migration Challenges: What can Libya’s Local Communities Do?, Workshop, 28/02/2017
- Libya: What Role for Local Actors?, Workshop, 01/06/2016
MEDirections is also working with young analysts based in different regions across Libya to produce policy relevant research. MEDirections mentors and provides support to these junior Libyan analysts, who have very limited background in conducting social science research.
This aims to complement the social dialogue track by generating a more detailed understanding of important trends and dynamics that could be a barrier to stability and reconciliation. It will also contribute towards training capable Libyan analysts able to advise policy-makers. The research topics include local economies and networks of power, armed groups and religious transformations.
Latest publications:
- Rule by the Lybian Arab Armed Forces Has Disrupted the Fragile Balance in Sirte, Omar Al-Hawari, 2021 [English]
- Libya’s Constitution: Between Conflict and Compromise, Nedra Cherif, 2021 [English and Arabic]
- How Sirte Became a Hotbed ofthe Libyan Conflict, Omar Al-Hawari, 2021 [English and Arabic]
- Salafi Politics: “Political” and “Quietist” Salafis in the Struggle for the Libyan State, Virginie Collombier, 2020, in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI)
- The City in the Middle: Fragile Stability and Future Opportunities in Libya’s Sirte, Omar Al-Hawari, 2019 [in English and Arabic].
- To engage or not to engage? Libyan Salafis and state institutions, Virginie Collombier, Fiona Barsoum, 2019, NUPI-MEDirections.
- Fulfilling Implausible Expectations. Reducing Migratory Flows from Libya amidst Porous Borders, Luca Raineri, 2018.
- The War in Derna: What’s Happening Now, and What’s Next?, Al-Zubayr Salem, 2018 [in English and Arabic].
- Local Specificities of Migration in Libya: Challenges and Solutions, Abdulrahman al-Arabi, 2018 [in English and Arabic].
- The crisis in Derna: Reconciliation opportunities in the midst of war?, Al-Zubayr Salem, 2018 [in English and Arabic].
- Tribes and Global Jihadism, Virginie Collombier and Olivier Roy (eds), Hurst Publishers, 2017.
- Make Politics, Not War: Armed Groups and Political Competition in Post-Qaddafi Libya in Out of the Inferno? Rebuilding Security in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen, Arab Reform Initiative, 2017.