All Necessary Measures? – The United Nations and the International Intervention in Libya 2011
Channel: War Studies KCL
Date: 25/05/2022

The international intervention after the 2011 Libyan uprising against Muammar Gaddafi was initially considered a remarkable success: the UN Security Council’s first application of the ‘responsibility to protect’ doctrine; an impending civilian massacre prevented; and an opportunity for democratic forces to lead Libya out of a forty-year dictatorship. But such optimism was soon dashed. The UN’s former representative on the ground in Libya, Ian Martin, offers his verdict on how the NATO mission unfolded, then unravelled. Could it have been otherwise?