On the 3rd of December 2019, the Middle East Directions Programme organised the roundtable Libya’s endless war: Tripoli’s battlefield and its impact on the south.
Drawing on Rebecca Murray’s extensive field experience in west and south Libya, the roundtable aimed to explore the current war in Tripoli from the perspective of the battlefield, residents and political actors, and its impact on Libya’s south. It particularly questioned whether the conflict and wider developments exacerbates the instability of social, political and security dynamics that have characterised the region since 2011.

Many crucial points have been tackled in this podcast: from the heterogeneous composition of the two main confronting camps (GNA and LNA) and the more proactive role of external actors to the chances for a diplomatic solution under the umbrella of the international community; from the Tripoli’s battlefield implications in terms of humanitarian emergency to the repercussions in the Southern regions of Libya, in which most of the natural resources are located and the balance between tribes and ethnic groups is more fragile. And finally, the challenges of conducting fieldwork research in war-zones and hostile environments.

Speakers:
Rebecca Murray, free-lance journalist and fieldwork researcher 
Virginie Collombier, part-time professor and leader of the Libya Initiative at the Middle East Directions Programme of the EUI

Anchoring:
Stefano Vannucci, Communication Specialist, Middle East Directions Programme