Libya, From Positive Precedent to Collective Frustration
Juan Garrigues, CIDOB | August 2011
"The intervention in Libya will not be remembered as a positive precedent for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)," concludes Juan Garrigues in his report for the Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB). His key points are:
- The initial legitimacy of the mission in Libya, with the approval of the UN Security Council and regional support, was possible thanks to an extraordinary context, fruit of the first Arab revolts.
- Many countries that supported the mission have questioned some of the measures led by France and the United Kingdom, considering them to be excessive and detrimental to the legitimacy of the intervention.
- The lack of a common vision regarding the means and objectives of the mission have been an obstacle to the “political solution” now being sought in Libya.
The stagnation of the mission and the Euro-Atlantic divisions that have arisen reinforce the caution of political leaders in the US and Europe when they are considering the viability of a military intervention under the R2P in the future.
The full report Libya, From Positive Precedent to Collective Frustration by Juan Garrigues, Research Fellow at the Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB) is available for download as a PDF.
