Libyan conflict and identerism: a theoretical approach to understanding unstable politicalviolence

The primary challenge to Libya’s postrevolutionary political re-stabilization is regionalism, not tribalism, as many believe. Regionalism transcends kinship ties in defining the social identity and practical interests that fuel Libya’s identity-linked political violence. This researcher found that the primary causes of the perpetual sociopolitical violence ravaging the country are rooted in the overlap between the most stable social identity and salient practical interests within Libya’s three distinct regions of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan. As such, the Libyan conflict can best be understood through the concept of “Identerest”—a fusion of identity and interest. The data for this qualitative case study were collected from historical and contemporary sources and semi-structured interviews with twenty-one Libyan citizens from the three regions. The research findings were then analyzed using an explanatory approach. To contextualize the fusion of the most potent identity and interest factors, the four phases of the Identerest framework—the development of Identerest entrepreneurs, the onset of the internal security dilemma, polarization of groups, and the emergence of the Identerest war—were then applied. The findings show that a divergence of the societal pattern of identity from tribal to regional has occurred. Moreover, the fusion in Libya after the revolution is attributable to the overlap of Identerest factors in western and eastern Libya: notably, oil in Sirte and political power in Tripoli. Further, the conflict between cultural and ideological beliefs fuels this fusion. These findings underscore the need to deconflict the fusion of identity and interest in Sirte and, most importantly, to modify the current structure of Libya’s political system to synergize the cultures and ideals of these three strategic regions.This study has three objectives. One objective is to inform Libyan officials, international organizations, and other influential entities regarding the potential of Libyan political regionalism as a viable approach for future peace and stability initiatives. A second objective is to equip political stability initiatives with the latest data. Finally, this study validates the application of the Identerest framework in studying Libya’s social construct and beyond.