Outsiders’ Bets on Libya Torpedo Peace

By Jonathan M. Winer

Jonathan M. Winer has been the United States Special Envoy for Libya, the deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement, and counsel to United States Senator John Kerry. He has written and lectured widely on U.S. Middle East policy, counter-terrorism, international money laundering, illicit networks, corruption, and U.S.-Russia issues. Winer is currently a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. In 2016, Winer received the highest award granted by the Secretary of State, for “extraordinary service to the U.S. government” in avoiding the massacre of over 3,000 members of an Iranian dissident group in Iraq, and for leading U.S. policy in Libya “from a major foreign policy embarrassment to a fragile but democratic, internationally recognized government.” In 1999, he received the Department’s second highest award, for having “created the capacity of the Department and the U.S. government to deal with international crime and criminal justice as important foreign policy functions." The award stated that "the scope and significance of his achievements are virtually unprecedented for any single official."

Political instability continues to plague Libya as the country is mired in its sixth year of conflict following the 2011 Arab Spring. In July, two of Libya’s most prominent leaders, representing competing factions, Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya’s UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA) and Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army, met in Paris to discuss a countrywide ceasefire and preconditions for elections that are scheduled for early 2018. The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with Jonathan Winer, former United States Special Envoy for Libya, about the recent agreement and the different factors that are impacting Libya’s drive for political unity.

The Cipher Brief: What do you make of the agreement struck between Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya’s UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA) and Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army in France in July? Will this agreement have any practical implications for the situation on the ground in Libya?

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