Trouble in Tripoli: Why Europe Must Respond to the Ambitions of Libyan Warlord Khalifa Haftar

Every time there is a European conference on Libya, the dominant feeling is the same: the Europeans seem to be more interested in the process—the mere act of bringing stakeholders together to talk—than the outcome. It is less clear whether this talk is actually conducive to any solution that can stop the spiral of violence in Libya.

Perhaps the prioritization of process over results stems from the highly mediatized nature of contemporary politics. It could be that European politicians, being primarily electoral animals obsessed with their own survival, think that an international photo opportunity or merely displaying action is always worth the effort, regardless of the outcomes.