The Professor and Director of the Department of International Security Studies at George Mason University in the US, Eileen Leibson, was a guest on the USL program on 218News. She provided a detailed account of the approach that the newly elected US President, Joe Biden, will develop to his policy towards the Libyan file.
The former deputy head of the US National Intelligence Council says that Biden believes in a more traditional international system in which the US leadership is valued and appreciated, noting that Libya would be a good start for the Biden administration to restore America’s credibility in the world.
With hope that the political process in Libya is moving in a positive direction, she added: “We now have Libyans meeting with each other and trying to end this terrible war. The Biden administration must support the ongoing dialogues and show greater American confidence that Libya is moving on A good path towards stability.”
She believed that Biden should make it clear that he expects other countries interfering in Libya to stop doing so, stressing that Libya represents an opportunity for President-elect Biden to affirm the principle of multilateralism and help a country that Washington interfered with during the Arab Spring in 2011.
“The peace process in Libya has reached a more productive stage, and it may mean the return of American diplomats to Tripoli, and America can support Security Council resolutions on Libya and do more to help implement them.” She indicated.
She also linked Washington’s involvement in Libya to who will be appointed to be Minister of Foreign Affairs, stressing that Biden has great experience in foreign policy after all those years in Congress.
According to the director of the International Security Studies Department at George Mason University, USA, Biden will work to be beneficial to Libya and other Arab countries that have demonstrated their desire for reform and political change.
She said Libya will not be the center of attention of the new administration, but it is one of the places where Biden can show the renewed interest and support for the Libyan people, and for the Libyan political parties to try to come together, and also to support the United Nations and its role in trying to reach a more peaceful political settlement in the country.
She explained that Biden believes that Libya is a European problem, excluding any possibility of an American military intervention in Libya, and Biden’s natural course of action will be to support the existing political process, without indicating a preference for a particular political figure in Libya.
She expected that Biden’s relationship with the Turkish President, Recep Erdogan, would not be easy, and it also reduced the chances that Biden could influence President Erdogan to rethink his policy towards Libya.
She added “Erdogan” is now confident that he is able to do whatever he wants, and that the United States is weaker than it was, but “Biden”; it will be very clear in opposing foreign countries providing aid to the parties to the conflict in Libya.
She indicated that instability in Libya was one of the problems that gave Turkey an exaggerated role, saying that the two countries that should be most concerned about “Biden” are Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, indicating that many world leaders will be very happy to have “Biden” as president of the US.
