Middle East Institute virtual roundtable on 7 April 2020

The Middle East Institute is pleased to host a virtual roundtable on Tuesday April 7th. The event, which will last an hour, will take place at 11am EDT = 4pm BST = 1700 Europe or Libyan time and be held via Zoom.The roundtable will gather Tim Eaton (London) and Abdul Rahman al-Ageli (Tripoli) both with Chatham House, Megan Doherty (DC) of Mercy Corps, Jason Pack (NYC) of Libya-Analysis LLC and MEI, and Former US Special Envoy to Libya Jonathan Winer (DC) also of MEI to discuss the topic of 'Militias in the time of the Pandemic: The Community Dynamics and Economic Interests of Libyan Armed Groups'. The participants will comment the findings of a recently published Chatham House research paper, ‘The Development of Libyan Armed Groups Since 2014: Community Dynamics and Economic Interests’, which presents insights from over 200 interviews of Libyan armed actors and members of local communities. It explores how international policymakers might seek to curtail the continued expansion of the conflict economy. This report is especially relevant for US policymakers attempts to understand the possible trajectories of Libya's conflict given the current pandemic, the future of its economic system given the crashing price of oil and the likely implosion of the Libyan healthcare system, and the requisite measures international actors need to take to increase the chances of a sustainable settlement to the conflict.   Mr Eaton will present findings from his research that bear upon issues of revenue generation, economic reform, and rule of law enforcement, while Mr al-Ageli would delve into the reports implications for community relations and SSR/DDR. Jason Pack and Megan Doherty will act as a respondents highlighting how this paper forwards our understanding of the conflict economy in Libya and what its direct implications are now given the Covid-19 crisis and the current state of international policy towards Libya.Click here to register to the event and here to read more about Jason Pack's research on the matter.