Líbia: um estudo de caso da intervenção internacional de 2011 e de seus aspectos jurídicos e políticos (original) (raw)

This research has two objectives: to analyse the 2011 international intervention in Libya through the lenses of both international law and international relations, and to discuss Libya's post-intervention political process. Regarding the first objective, the historic evolution of the use of force in international law until the development of the concept of Responsibility to Protect is discussed. Responsibility to Protect is the point into which the long tradition of just war, the development of international law (especially the rules of jus ad bellum and jus in bello), the growing responsibilities of the UN Security Council in the maintenance of world peace and security, and the changing nature of armed conflicts converge. Also, all the resolutions passed by the UN Security Council between February and October 2011 are examined in detail, especially Resolution 1973, which authorised the use of force to protect civilians in Libya, in order to verify if the actions of the states that took part in the intervention were consistent with the existing legal parameters. In this regard, the political context of the UN Security Council when Resolution 1973 was passed and during the intervention is taken into consideration. It is therefore concluded that the coalition of the willing violated Resolution 1973 and international law by promoting regime change, by sending weapons to the rebels, by training and coordinating with them, by bombing civilians, by rejecting the African Union peace overtures after Benghazi was secured, and by pursuing the military defeat of Gaddafi's forces. Moreover, the foreign policies of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are analysed, including the strategies concerning the Middle East and North Africa, as well as those concerning Libya in 2011. Thus, the motives that led the United States, France, and Great Britain to push for intervention, as well as those that drove Russia and China to abstain, are explained. As for the second objective, the current political situation of Libya is analysed, especially the reasons for its post-intervention instability, as well as the causes of the intervening states' lack of commitment to post-conflict reconstruction. Libya's political instability derives mostly from the proliferation of armed groups that are not placed under effective government control, from porous borders, from the growth of human and drug trafficking as well as smuggling routes, from the inexistence of strong state institutions since independence, from a hesitant national identity, and from a constant dichotomy between centre and periphery. Post-conflict reconstruction does not constitute a binding legal obligation. High financial and political costs of peace/stabilisation operations, like those in Afghanistan and Iraq, economic crisis, lack of popular support in the leading members of the coalition of the willing and among new Libyan leaders contributed to a low-key UN mission. Interventions to protect civilians are influenced by political calculations of minimising risks and maximising benefits (Rationality to Protect). Libya's instability has spread to its neighbours and new international interventions have taken place in the country, as the leaders of the 2011 intervening states have recognised their mistakes.