Everette E. Dennis, dean of Northwestern University in Qatar,  published an article in the Huffington Post, expressing the need for a free and independent media to develop in Libya. Dennis writes that while Qaddafi left Libya with little societal infrastructure this has left a “blank slate,” and provides the Libyan people an opportunity to promote transparency and engage in “great debates that will shape their future” by building a free and independent ...

On March 6, the Barqa Conference reportedly drew 3,000 tribal figures and leaders from the eastern region seeking the creation of a autonomous federal state in the east.. The movement received harsh internal and external criticism, and raised tensions as both the NTC and self-appointed Council of Barqa voiced their readiness to resort to the use of force to achieve their goals.   Writing for Foreign Policy, Sean Kane writes that the ...

According to Barak Barfi, research fellow with the New America Foundation, the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) and its Executive Committee, lacking the political experience and qualified human capital, have been "hamstrung by several problems" which have obstructed the progress of transition in Libya. Questions have arose surrounding the council's "opaque decision-making" and member selection criteria, both of which, according to Barfi, have been a factor in the inability of the NTC to ...

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared that Libyan authorities should investigate violations after U.N. report found both opposition and loyalist forces had committed war crimes during last years revolution. As the investigation was announced Ban Ki-Moon affirmed his support for the U.N. Support Mission of Libya to remain in the country as it deals with continued human rights abuses and a sensitive security situation. Reports of arbitrary arrests, vendetta attacks, and torture ...

Libya’s electoral law, voted into law by the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC)  last month, will provide guidelines for selecting the country’s first democratic government. The international community, including the U.S., has praised the law as a noteworthy step in Libya’s transitional period. The law was developed over a few months by the NTC taking into considerations of the Libyan people. It allows for Libyan’s holding dual-citizenship to run for political ...

Writing in Foreign Policy, director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Program at the University of Exeter Omar Ashour discusses the development and formation of the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The Libyan MB, he writes, announced on March 3rd the establishment of the Justice and Construction party, showing signs that Libya is likely to follow the “electoral path of Islamist success” seen across other Arab countries. Long oppressed and ...

On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim ElKeib in order to discuss the U.S. –Libya relationship as Libya’s continues it democratic transition. Clinton applauded the leadership of the National Transitional Council (NTC) expressed U.S. solidarity with the ruling party. Clinton acknowledged the challenges facing Libya remain extensive, but declared that Libya had made “progress in each of the three key areas of democratic society—building ...

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya announced in a press conference that the NTC was “not prepared to divide Libya” and blamed “infiltrators” and Gadhafi remnants for the proposed autonomy plan. “We are ready to deter them, even with force,” said Jalil. Jalil’s comments came as evidence emerges that Libya’s regions desire greater autonomy and control over their respective localities. Misrata, a city that experienced ...

Civic Leaders of Libya’s eastern Cyrenaica province, long marginalized by during Moammar Gadhafi, began an initiative for greater autonomy. Five thousand people are expected to attend the first “Congress of the People of Cyrenaica” near Benghazi, where a proposal to return Libya to a federalist system will be proposed. The National Transition Council (NTC) has repeatedly “voiced objection” to the planned autonomy, saying that the federal system “paves the way to ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about national security and the foreign policy priorities in the $51.6 billion fiscal year 2013 International Affairs budget. Senator John Kerry (D – MA) presided over the committee, which was co-chaired by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). To read the full text of the event notes, continue reading below or click here for the PDF   Senator John Kerry began by ...

Jason Pack and Barak Bafi published a policy brief through the Washington Institute for Near East Policy discussing the ongoing struggle for power in a post-Qadhafi Libya. The paper discussed historical background of the conflict, current challenges and problems facing the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) and, suggested policies to rectify the current security issues. The authors argue the volatility that characterized post-Qadhafi Libya, which directly undermines the authority of the NTC,  is ...

FRIDE released a report this month discussing the role religion will play in the ongoing transitions to democracy across the MENA region. The report discussed the emergence of Islamist parties into the political sphere, some new and some established, and the implications of the ideologies on their political decisions. Religion has always been " a major force of Arab Politics." According to the report, the success of Islamist parties can be attributed to their ...