• Research
  • Diwan
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Middle East logoCarnegie lettermark logo
LebanonIran
{
  "authors": [
    "Frederic Wehrey"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Arab Awakening"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North America",
    "United States",
    "North Africa",
    "Libya",
    "Maghreb"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Security",
    "Military",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

The Grinding Fight to Root Out ISIS in a Battered Libya

In Libya, the struggle to root out the Islamic State goes beyond the battlefield to the broken state left behind by Muammar Qaddafi and the lack of international support following the 2011 uprising.

Link Copied
By Frederic Wehrey
Published on Aug 10, 2016

Source: New Yorker

In late July, on a tree-lined avenue of villas in Sirte, the coastal home town of the late dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Islamic State snipers pinned down a group of Libyan militiamen. It was early evening, a drawn-out time when the fighting usually starts to pick up. The figures of young men crouching or darting across the street with rocket-propelled grenades cast long shadows in the soft light. Amid the snap and rattle of automatic gunfire, the stereo from a nearby Toyota played an Islamic chant known as a nashid that seemed at once elegiac and fortifying...

Read the full article at the New Yorker. 

About the Author

Frederic Wehrey

Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Frederic Wehrey is a senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research focuses on governance, conflict, and security in Libya, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    Israel’s Election Had No Clear Winner. What Comes Next for the Region?
      • +9

      Nathan J. Brown, Alper Coşkun, Amr Hamzawy, …

  • Article
    Parallel Climate Reckonings: Colonial Water Legacies and Indigenous Adaptation, from Morocco to the American West

      Frederic Wehrey, Charles H. Johnson

Frederic Wehrey
Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Frederic Wehrey
Political ReformSecurityMilitaryForeign PolicyNorth AmericaUnited StatesNorth AfricaLibyaMaghreb

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

  • Paper
    The Twilight of Oil in an Age of Uncertainty: From a Vicious to a Virtuous Cycle

    The global hydrocarbon order is changing. Economic diversification and developing productive economies have become essential for Middle Eastern and North African states, requiring them to address social and political challenges and rethink domestic, regional, and global settlements.

      • +1

      Nur Arafeh, Ishac Diwan, Hamza Meddeb, …

  • Commentary
    Diwan
    Young and Restless in the Middle East

    In an interview, Mayssoun Sukarieh discusses youths in the region, and how they are being defined and reshaped.

      Yasmine Zarhloule

  • Commentary
    Diwan
    An American Muslim Exception?

    In an interview, Rozina Ali discusses her new book on the rise and manifestations of Islamophobia in the United States.

      Michael Young

  • Commentary
    Diwan
    The Israel Lobby, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Domestic Liberties

    In an interview, Ian Lustick and Eli Clifton discuss their new book on why a prominent ally has so much influence in America.

      Michael Young

  • Commentary
    Diwan
    Three Ruptures and the End of Pax Americana in the Middle East

    As the U.S. stumbles in its war with Iran, we are likely to see an acceleration of its disengagement from the region.  

      Michael Young

Get more news and analysis from
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Carnegie Middle East logo, white
  • Research
  • Diwan
  • About
  • Experts
  • Projects
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.