State and Authority in Libya: A Political Science Approach to the Dialectic of Internal Fragmentation and External Penetration from 2011 to 2026

Abstract

This study examines the problematic of the erosion of the sovereignty of the Libyan state and the fissure of its legitimate authority after 2011, highlighting the dialectical and feedback relationship between manifestations of institutional and security fragmentation internally and the catalysts of external penetration and international intervention regionally and globally. The paper departs from the inquiry of how the crisis of central authority transformed into an objective condition opening the field for external actors to reengineer the balance of power within the country. The research adopted the descriptive-analytical method and the case-study method within the fragile and failed state approach in political science, with reference to the structural-functional approach. The study concluded that there is a vicious circle of feedback; the deeper the internal fragmentation, the wider the margin of external penetration, and the more divergent the interests of intervening powers, the more difficult it becomes to form a unified central authority. The paper recommended the unification of the military and security institution, the construction of an inclusive constitutional track, and the elaboration of a neutral diplomatic strategy to break the dialectic of fragmentation and penetration.