Influencing the Course of the Events: the NATO Military Intervention in Libya and the Expansion of the Islamic State in the Country

Abstract

On 17th March 2011, the UN Security Council approved the resolution number 1973 urging the Gaddafi regime to stop the use of military force against the anti-establishment rebels and authorizing the international community to establish a no-fly zone and to adopt all the necessary measures to protect the population. Consequently, an international coalition, formed by the US, the UK and France, began air military operations in Libya supporting the rebels. Such military intervention caused the capitulation of the regime and consistent economic damages to the country's infrastructures. Despite the regime change and the hope of establishing a new political order, the country faced a time of deep political, military and economic crisis. Therefore, the political situation deteriorated after the elections of 2014 when the exponents of the House of Representatives and the General National Congress started to fight each other in order to expand their political and military influence. The void of power left by the decline of the former regime, coupled with the dissolution of the Libyan Army, caused instability in the country and favoured the rise of extremist terrorist groups. In particular, the Islamic State found the perfect habitat to establish an operative branch in the country aiming at the control of...