On April 4, Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, a powerful military faction usually known by the initials LNA, launched an offensive to capture the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The attack soon stalled, and a dynamic stalemate has played out since.
Against this backdrop, divisions at the international level have been laid bare, raising questions about the complicity of some external states and exposing ambivalence or differences of opinion within others. These divisions have so far paralysed the United Nations Security Council. The meek international response has played a significant part in allowing the violence to continue and indeed escalate as a result of greater external support.
How did we get here?
