ISS Seminar, Pretoria: The UN Intervention in Libya: Disguised Regime Change Agenda or a Pure Humanitarian Endeavor?

Date: 2011-03-24

Venue: , ISS Conference Room, Block C, Brooklyn Court, 361 Veale Street, New Muckleneuk,

RSVP:
Marinkie Maluleke
Tel: 012 346 9500
Fax: 012 460 0997

On 17 March 2011, an international coalition led by France, Britain and the US began implementing UN Resolution 1973, imposing a no-fly zone over Libya in an effort to protect civilians from the Gaddafi regime that was determined to crush an unprecedented armed, popular uprising against its forty-year rule. Operation ‘Odyssey Dawn’, as the intervention has come to be known has, unfortunately, become a source of division and tension within the international community, particularly between the UN, AU, Arab League, EU and NATO.  Not only has the manner in which the resolution was crafted been questioned, but its implementation has also been criticized for its lack of a clear strategy and envisaged outcomes. Is the intervention a front for a regime change agenda? And should regime change be the outcome by design or by default; how will the political consequences be managed and by whom? Despite initial support from the Arab League and African countries for a UN-backed no-fly zone, the AU’s panel on Libya has condemned the Western-led UN intervention; and the Arab League has frowned upon the West’s implementation strategy.

To unpack the dynamics surrounding the Western-led UN intervention in Libya, the ACPP and the PMP programmes of the Institute for Security Studies will be hosting a seminar at its Pretoria Office. The seminar will discuss the intended and unintended consequences of the intervention, provide an understanding of the military-strategic factors at stake and will also briefly outline the likely political and geopolitical dynamics that could arise from a military operation.  

SPEAKERS

Presented by the African Conflict Prevention and the Peace Missions Programmes

Please note that discussion occur under ISS rules, i.e. no attribution without explicit permission