Libya’s enduring calamity

A new unity government seems destined to deliver neither unity nor government

Libya now has a third government – and it is about to enter the fray. The UN hopes it will restore stability to the country, but it may worsen the chaos. Either way, oil production – now at a five-year low of less than 300,000 barrels a day – is unlikely to recover soon. Islamic State (IS), thriving on the political disorder, has closed in on Libya’s last remaining onshore oil producers.  Tired of waiting for the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) to endorse a unity government, the UN, US and EU in mid-March officially recognised a new government of national accord (GNA). Libyan opponents immediately dismissed it as a “foreign imposition”. The UN’s GNA gambit is risky. A 17 December