Strategizing Toward Irrelevance in Libya

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, European policies toward post-Gaddafi Libya had been criticized for their ineffectiveness and structural deficiencies. When in early March the European Union (EU) became the epicenter of contagion, the credibility of its security and foreign policy further eroded. Although the coronavirus emergency had the potential to spur European countries toward renewed solidarity and greater coordination, what emerged instead was a tendency to turn inward, forcing uncoordinated national responses to the crisis. This transformation risks speeding up some dynamics already underway, such as contracting European political support for external assistance programs—especially regarding the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—in the face of the pandemic’s domestic socioeconomic consequences. Indeed, in the medium and long terms, the political dynamics and mechanisms of alliance that have governed the international system to date risk being among COVID-19’s victims. In particular, this could have serious repercussions in crises such as the six-year devastating civil war raging in Libya, where Europe has already been called upon to intervene to stabilize the country