Shortlisted for the Conflict Research Society's 2021 Book of the Year PrizeShortlisted for the British-Kuwait Friendship Society 2021 Book PrizeAfter the overthrow of the Qadhafi regime in 2011, Libya witnessed a dramatic breakdown of centralized power. Countless local factions carved up the country into a patchwork of spheres of influence. Almost no nationwide or even regional organizations emerged, and no national institutions survived the turbulent descent into renewed civil war. Only the leader of one armed coalition, Khalifa Haftar, managed to overcome competitors and centralize authority over eastern Libya. But tenacious resistance from armed groups in western Libya blocked Haftar's attempt to seize power in the capital Tripoli.Rarely does political fragmentation occur as radically as in Libya, where it has been the primary obstacle to the re-establishment of central authority. This book analyzes the forces that have shaped the country's trajectory since 2011. Confounding widely held assumptions about the role of Libya's tribes in the revolution, Wolfram Lacher shows how war transformed local communities and explains why Khalifa Haftar has been able to consolidate his sway over the northeast. Based on hundreds of interviews with key actors in the conflict, Lacher advances an approach to the study of civil wars that places the transformation of social ties at the centre of analysis.

INTRODUCTIONThe PuzzleFragmentation in Civil Wars and Collapsed States.Fragmentation and Social Structure.The ArgumentStructure, Process, and Social Transformation in Civil WarSocial EmbeddednessThe Process of FragmentationMechanisms and ProcessesResearch Design and MethodologyData collectionConditions and ConstraintsPlan of the BookLIBYA'S UNRAVELLING, 2011-2019Revolution (February-October 2011)Sharing the Spoils (November 2011 - July 2012)An Experiment with Democracy (July 2012 - May 2013)Escalating Tensions (May 2013 - June 2014)The Second Civil War (2014-15)The Elusive Agreement (July 2015 - September 2016)Impasse (September 2016 - January 2019)Haftar's Expansion and the Third Civil War (January 2019)Patterns, Turning Points, and Paths not TakenSTRUCTURE AND PROCESS IN THE ERUPTION OF CIVIL WAR (2011)Structure, Process, and ViolenceCollective Indecision, Contingency, and ViolenceViolence, Group Structure, and Social TransformationStructural Aspects of Libyan LocalismA Century of Turmoil, 1911-2011What Is A Libyan Tribe?The Myth of the Marginalized Cities and RegionsThe Irruption of Localism in 2011A Local Civil War in the Western/Nafusa MountainsMisrata: Rise of a Revolutionary BulwarkBani Walid: Loyalism and VictimizationTobruk: Revolution at the MarginsConclusion: Violence and the Formation of New Political CommunitiesSOCIAL EMBEDDEDNESS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT (2012-15)Resocializing Armed GroupsSocial Embeddedness versus FormalizationSocial Embeddedness and Transformation in Libya's ConflictsMisrata: Power Politics and Social EmbeddednessWestern/Nafusa Mountains: Militia Conglomerates and Community SecurityBani Walid: The Difficult Path to Local Cohesion.Tobruk: The BackwaterElsewhere: The Reign of MilitiasConclusionTHE PROCESS OF FRAGMENTATION (2015-2019)Is Fragmentation a Game?Changes in Strategic Conditions, 2011-2019Trajectories of FragmentationMisrata: Social Cohesion, Political FragmentationWestern/Nafusa Mountains: Zintan, from Corporatism to FragmentationBani Walid: Restoring Cohesion through Self-IsolationTobruk: The Rise of HaftarConclusionCONCLUSIONHow Civil Wars Erupt: Onset vs. EscalationProcesses in Violent Conflict: Social Transformation and Strategic ConditionsFragmentation and CohesionWhat Explains Deep Social Embeddedness, and What Are Its Implications?From Fragmentation to ConsolidationThe Libyan PredicamentAnnex: List of InterviewsPublication bibliographyIndex