Abstract

The 2011 Libyan Uprisings differed from those in Egypt and Tunisia by arising in and being dominated by the periphery. Jason Pack was on the ground in Libya immediately after the fall of Tripoli and has since traced the progress of post-Qadhafi Libya as a journalist, academic, and adviser to policy makers in the UK and US. His talk will examine how specific historical factors at play in Libyan society combined with dynamics unleashed by the NATO -imposed No-Fly Zone fostered the creation of local military and political organisations in the Libyan periphery disconnected from the rebels’ centre of power—the National Transitional Council. This talk will stress how the current ‘ascendancy of the periphery’ and resulting ‘statelessness’ are deeply rooted in Libyan History.