The killing of Libyan despot Muammar Gadhafi was supposed to cease months of bloody fighting but instead marked the prelude to Libya’s disintegration. The capitulation of Libya has been solely accredited to Western powers for seemingly using the cover of ‘humanitarian intervention’ to instil regime change in a volatile but sovereign nation. Gadhafi’s mobilization of his forces against his own citizens prompted Western forces, led by France, the United Kingdom and the United States to lead a coalition responsible for preventing further human rights violations. The UN-mandated mission specified its purpose was the protection of civilians, yet, events that followed suggested that the bias of the coalition influenced events in Libya in a manner which best served the interests of the Western forces. In this essay, I will assess the success and failure of the Libyan intervention by using primary sources and offering a comparison to modern-day Libya. The failure to provide an appropriate method of post-conflict resolution is what I will argue is one of the biggest failures of the Libyan intervention and this will be discussed throughout. Furthermore, the intervention was authorized on the UN mandate of ‘Responsibility to Protect’, this will also provide another basis for my assessment. I am going to argue the fact that the NATO intervention in Libya has played a significant role in damaging the credibility of international aid and ‘R2P’ as a tool to combat humanitarian crises. In this essay, I will also consider the various aspects of the intervention which may be seen by some commentators as evidence of success. This comparison will allow me to formulate an informed assessment of the success and failure of the NATO-backed intervention of Libya in 2011.

Humanitarian intervention or imperialism?

Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s instructions for his supports to openly attack protestors of his regime provided genuine moral clarity for an international response. His labelling of protestors as ‘rats’ and ‘cockroaches’ who did not deserve to live was largely reminiscent of similar rhetoric used to spur the Rwandan genocide in 1994. (2011)

The United Nations Security Council challenged the government of Libya to meet its responsibility to protect its citizens and under the same auspice, the Council authorized military air strikes and the ensuing intervention. Following failed diplomatic efforts, the United Nations Security Council assumed responsibility for all international air operations after referring to Chapter VII on the UN Charter on ‘Action with Respect to Treaties.’ (Engelbrekt, Mohlin, & Wagnsson, 2013). This authorized a coalition of member states to use ‘all means necessary’ to protect the civilians in p