World in Conflict - The Case of Libya, The United Nations & NATO

Abstract

This essay outlines the Libyan civil war in 2011 and describes the role that some of the involved actors came to play through out the conflict; furthermore, it puts a strong focus on the NATO-led intervention in the region and expands upon the question of its legality versus legitimacy. By analysing NATO and UN official documents the essay applies a methodological framework on its contents and sheds light upon several key aspects of the organisations’ arguments and justifications. Finally, the essay concludes that the Libyan intervention 2011 was heavily surrounded by humanitarian arguments with traces of Neorealism, Liberalism, R2P, international law and humanitarian interventionism. The essay then explains that these notions ultimately made the intervention legitimate, which was key for the intervention to take place. Even if some legal scholars would argue that the intervention was in fact illegal, legitimacy out ruled these aspects of the operation.