ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Libya’s development from a terrorism-sponsoring pariah state to a key player in regional and global geopolitics, focusing on the fallout from the collapse of the Gaddafi regime during the Arab Spring in 2011. It addresses the role post-Gaddafi Libya plays in international security, economic affairs, and international migration, as well as the ways in which Europe, Africa, and the Middle East have been forced to reassess Libya’s position in relation to their own interests. Libya’s post-Gaddafi situation has had both regional and global consequences, demonstrating the interconnected nature of today’s global security, economic, and social spheres. The flow of Libyan weapons to battlefields and conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East has served to galvanize militant and separatist movements, sowing violence, instability, and uncertainty around the world. Muammar Gaddafi violently suppressed domestic dissent, using Libyan security forces at home and abroad to hunt down, imprison, and assassinate dissidents and outspoken exiles.
