Islamist Forces, Political Reordering of Libya and Exiles in Cairo

An inevitable outcome of modern warfare and a contemporary political punishment, exile is also a political process aiming at returning to the home country, and even at reacquiring a share in the political arena. For the hosting government, exiles could be ready instruments and a bargaining chip in its domestic and international political competition. In understanding Libya’s post-2011 political dynamics and possible future scenarios, this paper directs the attention beyond the geographical boundaries to Libyan political exiles in Cairo, examining their presence and activism, as well as Egypt’s policy toward them from 2012 to 2015, a time period when Egypt itself was in the midst of political transformation and constitutional reform, and the political landscape of North Africa at large was witnessing a new wave of Islamist revival prompted by the Arab Spring. Heavily drawing on firsthand materials, this paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach (mainly of political anthropology and political discourse analysis), and proceeds surrounding three clusters: the political exiles’ existential contour within the Cairene Libyan transnational migrant community; the pendulum of their fate alongside Egypt’s political landscape changing; and a meso-level case study of the LPNM’s activism in exile.