The Search for Peace in Libya: A Book Talk with Stephanie Williams

The Stimson Center’s North Africa, Mediterranean & Sahel Program invites you to a public discussion on Libya’s political trajectory and the challenges of international peacemaking more than a decade after the fall of Qaddafi. Stephanie Williams, former United Nations Special Adviser on Libya and senior U.S. diplomat, will share insights from her firsthand diplomatic experience navigating Libya’s negotiations and mediation efforts. The conversation will examine the collapse of the UN-led political process following General Khalifa Haftar’s 2019 offensive against Tripoli and subsequent efforts, alongside UN Special Representative Ghassan Salamé, to rebuild a fragile international consensus through the Berlin Process and its parallel military, economic, and political tracks. Stephanie Williams served as the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Libya (2021-2022), Acting Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) (2020-2021), and as Deputy Special Representative of UNSMIL (2018-2020). She led the mediation that resulted in a nation-wide Libyan ceasefire agreement signed on October 23, 2020, and a February 2021 political agreement reached that produced Libya’s first unity government in seven years. She also served as an American diplomat for 24 years. Williams is the author of “Libya Since Qaddafi: Chaos and the Search for Peace,” published by Hurst (London) in April 2025. Moderated by Hafed Al-Ghwell, the discussion will explore broader lessons for multilateral diplomacy and conflict resolution today.