First and Second Libyan Civil War

Muammur Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, معمر محمد أبو منيار القذافي, ruled Libya from 1969 to 2011; a total of 42 years. His reign began in September of 1969, he with aid from his supporters attacked, non-violently, the government which ruled beforehand. The particularity of this overthrown of the previous government is that nobody was killed in the process, it was one of the few pacific overthrows. Gaddafi was surely not democratic, but under his rules the country saw many positive effects. Many reforms improved healthcare and the education in the country, this was majorly done for the public in order to make the lived of the Libyan people better. The economy also increased rapidly, at its highest peak the GDP per capita was the fifth highest in Africa, with $11'000 a year per person. The economy increased mainly as the oil exports of the country increased in the years. One thing that Gaddafi was unable to accomplish was the country's struggle of housing. The country's population increased of around 600% in just 50 years, hence there was a humongous need for houses which was not done. These things were not enough, as the people of Libya wanted democracy, hence the another Libyan revolution began. The same cannot be said about the revolution that followed the pacific one, known as the Libyan Arab Spring.

30'000 people died in the violence that hit Libya after Gaddafi's regime. In 2012 the country elected a government but the peace did not last for long. The old tyrann, Gaddafi, was dead; people thought that the war in the country was over but they were wrong. War will still rage on the country for many years, until now (2017 the fighting did not stop). The war continued as the different rebellious groups which did not feel united all wanted to rule. These small armed forces did not want to bend down to a single entity, which would have been one single government. As Gaddafi's rule fell, a massive power-vacuum occurred; which lead to the fractionation of the government. The small local militias began to act like small independent governments, making the country not united in anyway. As all of these small ruling groups wanted to rule the fighting continued, this time instead there was not clear enemy: everyone was against everyone. As said before the National Transitional Council (NTC) wanted to act as the sole Libyan government, thus they asked all the small militia-groups to register on the Libyan Ministry of defense. This tactic was able to unite different small rebel groups under one sole government, but it did not unite all. The country was still split into many different divided groups, Libya stopped to be one sole country, it became more a sequence of small independent countries with a single name.

The war has been fought between four majors forces:

The Islamic State in Libya

Libya is a vast country, but the majority is desert and arid and its population is agglomerated on the Northern Coast, much of its desert is contested with other nations and here ISIS came. Islamic State's supporters have thought in the region as it is very oil-rich; thus profitable. Egypt and UAE helped the Libyan government by sending airstrikes on the IS, as they were afraid that the IS would enter the nearby Egypt. The border between Egypt and Libya is so vast and impossible to control. Darna, a city 330 km away from Egypt, was claimed by the IS. In 2015 a video of 21 Coptic Egyptian Christians being killed was sent on the internet, strongly alarming the nearby Egypt population. Soon later 15'000 Egyptians left the country of Libya as it was classified as unsafe and the government strengthened the number of airstrikes on the IS in Libya. IS was able to expand, but many different countries combined their power to make IS leave Libya. Sirte was conquered by the IS, but in the end of 2016 they were finally driven out of the area. The combined Libyan-American forces were based in the nearby city of Misrata, and in half a year they were capable of seizing Sirte back. The victory will partially stop IS, as they the income from selling oil will decrease and they will have a weaker foothold on the African continent. But this victory did not stop IS completely as some areas of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt are still somehow controlled by this rebellious organization.

Personal view of the writer:

It is very interesting to debate whether Libya was a better country before and after the first civil war. Firstly with Gaddafi the country was one of the most developed in the entire African continent, the economy was stable; but when the civil war came the economy began to enter a void in which the economy started to collapse, the country - after 6 years - is still economically unstable and the GDP continues to decrease. Adding to this the country was once safe, it soon became a relatively popular destination for vacation; but with the wars the country became inaccessible: as unsafe. The country, from a few years, began not giving any tourist-visas. On the other hand the country under Gaddafi's regime was very bellicose, in just a few decades it fought against many different countries and aided many wars. For example in 1978 the Chadian-Libyan war began, in which Libya occupied the Aouzou strip (a desertic piece of land between the two countries). The war ended 9 years later with a Chadian victory. Under the regime there was a certain level of oppression. Italians, which one colonised the country, were expelled from the country in the 1970; all of their possessions and bank-accounts were confiscated and they were forced to go back, begin a new life, back in Italy. For many of these people Libya was their homeland, and they were never able to go back to the country again. In a few words it is impossible to say if the country was better before or later, but for the population of the country before the two civil wars was safer; even if in the country there was no type of democracy.