The Challenges of Rebuilding a Strong State in Libya: Confessionalism and Consociationalism

Eight years after Gaddafi's fall in 2011, Libya is still in deep internal disputes and does not have an integrated government and army to enforce national sovereignty. In addition to tribal affiliations and the region allegiances that provide fuel for the civil war, regional and global powers have also get involved in a proxy war, which in turn may also even lead to a global crisis by expanding its scope. In this context, the most important issue is the absence of a strong coherent government so question arises, given this social and political background, what are the challenges of rebuilding a strong government based on an appropriate constitutional model in Libya?

This paper based on qualitative-descriptive framework aims to answer the challenges of state-building in Libya.

Libya is a heterogeneous territory characterized by distances, deserts and unequal distribution of resources, as well as tribal fractions. In some ways, the Libyan civil war is the result of Gaddafi's policies in undermining the institutions of the state, the army and the security apparatus. Also, lack of the proper social reforms and reliance on tribal allegiances have played a major role in continuing its tribal structure, now manifested in tribal, regional and political conflicts. Nevertheless, irredentism or separatism are not seen in Libya. Therefore, the prospect of peace and reconciliation improves.

Consociationalism can provide a platform for reaching an agreement between the Libyan major political and regional actors. Consociationalism and Confessionalism are two patterns for conflict resolving in the ethnically fragmented communities. The article argues while Consociationalism can be an imperative theoretical basis for designing the new Libyan constitution, there is no need to resorting political confessionalism that has not a positive record in other Middle Eastern countries.