Since 2011, this oil-producing country has been enduring an unprecedented crisis. The NATO-backed uprising  not only led to the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi, but also gave rise to an internal battle between factions which continues to this day. The country has been divided into two parts: on one side is the UN-acknowledged National Unity Government headed by Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, and on the other, the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar. International intervention is undoubtedly one of the reasons behind the country’s weardown, with Turkey and Russia playing major roles, though without setting aside the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and theUnited States. In addition to the conflict over oil and territorial structures, we have to ask ourselves how this war can be ended, what role the different Libyan actors (above all, armed groups) and the aforementioned external actors can play, including the UN. This virtual round table discussion, which will include the participation of three experts, will analyze the latest events in Tripoli and Sirte, as well as the consequences of the fragmentation of political and military power and the challenges that this situation is creating for the region and the EU.

Juan Garrigues is the assistant director of the Dialogue Advisory Group (DAG) an organization which facilitates political dialogue in countries enduring conflict, as well as a Senior Associate Researcher for the CIDOB. With a bachelor’s degree in International Politics from the University of Virginia, he earned his Master’s degree in International Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He has worked as a consulting member of the Department of Analysis and Studies of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Spanish Government; in the thinktanks FRIDE and CITpax, in the United Nations’ Department of Political Affairs and at ACTED Afghanistan. He possesses extensive experience in mediation issues, including negotiations with political role-players and armed groups in Libya, and as a consultant to the United Nations Department of Political Affairs and the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Francisco de Miguel Álvarez is a career diplomat and at present is the Ambassador of Spain in Libya, a position he has held since May 2017. He has a Master’s degree in Iberian-American Studies from Cornell University, where he was an associate professor. During his diplomatic career, he has held the positions of Assistant Director of the Spanish Embassy in Libya, Mexico, Finland and Serbia, as well as Permanent Deputy Representative to the International Organizations headquartered in Vienna. Before taking over his current position as Ambassador to Libya, he was the Assistant Director General of International Cooperation to Fight Terrorism, Drugs and Organized Crime. His activity as a diplomat has revolved around the European Union’s Mediterranean policy, strategic challenges, non-proliferation and international cooperation to fight terrorism.

Barah Mikaïl is the director of the consulting firm Stractegia and an associate professor at Saint Louis University in Madrid, where he runs the Contemporary Crisis Observatory. He is an expert on the Middle East and North Africa, as well as EU and US policy on the Middle East and political, economic and security-related affairs. He has been a senior researcher at FRIDE (2011-2015) and the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris, specializing in the MENA region and water-related topics (2002-2010). He was also a professor at the Collège Interarmées de Défense of the French Defense Ministry (2005-2007), at the Université-Paris-8 Saint-Denis and at Sciences-Po Lille.