A Middle East Monitor analytical report has criticized the United Nations’ efforts. These efforts aimed to find a political settlement for the Libyan crisis. They involved successive UN missions over 15 years. The report considers Libya a “costly and repetitive political testing ground” since 2011.
According to the report, 11 UN envoys have served in Libya. This has happened since Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011. Each envoy, including the latest, Hannah Tetteh, arrived with promises. These promises included a “final roadmap” towards stability. However, they all ended in the same impasse. What was designed as a bridge to a sovereign democratic state instead solidified a “state of frozen chaos.”
The report noted that solutions drafted in Geneva, Skhirat, or Tunis often ignore the sensitive reality on the ground. This results in a country stuck in perpetual transition. It maintains a fragile balance. There are competing administrations and fragmented security apparatuses. Foreign interests find the “current” situation comfortable and opportunistic.
The report indicated that structured dialogues facilitated by UNSMIL since late 2025 are the “latest and most harmful experiments.” These dialogues, it states, created an incentive to deepen institutional fragmentation. This happened instead of fostering a national vision for legislative and presidential elections. The weakness of this path lies in its issuing “recommendations.” These recommendations lack binding legal force. They also lack an an executive framework.
The report further stated a new conflict is emerging around the judiciary. This conflict involves competing claims of constitutional legitimacy. It threatens to transform the political stalemate into a “permanent judicial separation.” The report believes this path has not unified the state. Instead, it contributed to friction. This friction pushed the Libyan House of Representatives to activate a Supreme Constitutional Court in Benghazi. This action, according to the report, “entrenched judicial separation.” Libya is left without a single agreed-upon body to settle legal disputes. This represents a “fatal blow” to any electoral roadmap. The country will lack a neutral body to certify results or rule on constitutional appeals. This is compounded by the continued absence of a constitution.
The report mentioned that the 2020 ceasefire is the “only significant achievement” so far. However, it remains a “peace without purpose.” The international community institutionalized temporary and non-binding dialogues. This created a frozen environment. It incentivizes political actors to remain in perpetual transition. “Progress” is measured by the number of meetings, not by achieved stability.
The report described the recent $20 billion energy deal between Libya, France, and the United States. It reflects the “paradox of frozen chaos.” International powers are willing to sign long-term contracts. They do so with Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s government. This is despite controversy over its legal legitimacy. Meanwhile, attention is diverted to endless dialogue committees on governance and human rights.
The report continued that the international community’s behavior deviates from multilateralism. It favors “pragmatic realism.” It cited the diplomacy of Donald Trump’s senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, Masood Boulos. Boulos held recent meetings with Dbeibeh government officials and military leaders. This interaction sends a message. The UN platform is formal for peacebuilding. However, the “keys to real legitimacy” relate to land, weapons, and revenues.
The report concluded that Libya remains a “field for international experiments and mistakes.” It has not transformed into a sovereign state with a unified legal body. The structured dialogue, it asserted, will remain “blind.” It will produce more “frozen chaos.” This is despite being ostensibly designed to dismantle it.