Unlike its eastern neighbor, Egypt, Libya does not enjoy a feature similar to the Nile River to break up its broad Saharan expanses or offer water that could organize its various tribal constituencies into a more unified agricultural society. Historically, this has been Libya's challenge: Unifying the various local populations and settlements of a vast and rugged geography. These divisions have helped to ensure that Libyan society's inherently tribal nature remains, even as Libya's neighbors have developed strong national identities.
This breakdown in central authority has had serious implications for Libya's own domestic stability. The political transition process has largely ground to a halt as competing factions both within the transitional political authority — the General National Congress — and outside the political process have been unable to emerge as a singular authority. Oil production and exports, the lifeline of the Libyan economy, have fluctuated wildly and are expected to operate significantly under capacity for the foreseeable future. Well-armed militias operate with a wide degree of impunity because Libya lacks the military and security capabilities to effectively rein in these challenges to its authority. The deterioration of centralized authority also poses significant risks to Libya's neighbors. Given Libya's proximity to significant energy producing regions, Europe and former Western colonial holdings, Libya's loose control over its borders will continue to be a pressing issue for regional stakeholders and Western powers with economic and political links to North Africa and the Sahel.
