Intervention in Libya and the "Arab Spring": Possible Interpretations

Abstract

This paper analyses the first military operation authorized by the United Nations Security Council on the ground of the principle of the Responsibility to Protect through the Resolution 1973 of 2011 in order to prevent the escalation of the Libyan civil war. This investigation consists of a case study of the Libyan conflict, within the perspective of its long duration, acknowledging the connections between the country’s Ottoman history, the Italian domain, its ethnical configuration, independence, the discovery of oil within its borders, the rise of Muamar Kadafi as a political figure, and the international intervention which led to the fall of the regime. To do so, the methods applied were the analysis of the documents approaching the situation, specially the Resolutions 1970 and 1973 issued by the United Nations Security Council, and analysis of the historiography of the region. By the exam of this situation, it was possible to conclude that the mandate, aimed at the Protection of Civilians, was by far more effective in defending strategical interests that led to the regime change.