The EU and the Libyan conundrum
The death of Muammar Gaddafi on October 20th, 2011 put an end to 40 years of dictatorship in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. His fall left the stage open for great political and military instability, intensified by complex alliance games between the parties involved. The situation therefore seems to be in deadlock, especially as the international community has been slow to respect its commitments and to agree on a solution to the conflict. It is in this context that the European Union has announced, on March 31st this year, the launch of Operation IRINI off the Libyan coast.