Dr. Wolfram Lacher

Dr. Wolfram Lacher


Research Division: Middle East and Africa
Senior Associate

wolfram.lacher(at)swp-berlin.org

2018 PhD, political science, Humboldt University, Berlin

2014 Member of the project »Elite Change and New Social Mobilization in the Arab World«

Since 2010 Associate, Middle East and Africa Division, SWP

2007–2010 North Africa Analyst, Control Risks, London

2006 MSc, Violence, Conflict & Development, SOAS, London

2005 Graduate Diploma in Political Science, American University in Cairo (AUC)

2001–2004 Arabic and African Studies in Leipzig and Paris

Areas of Expertise:

Libya, Sahel, Civil wars, Fragile states, Regional and interstate conflicts


SWP Publications (selection):

Wolfram Lacher

International Schemes, Libyan Realities

Attempts at Appeasing Khalifa Haftar Risk Further Escalating Libya’s Civil War

SWP Comment 2019/C 45, November 2019, 4 Pages

doi:10.18449/2019C45

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Wolfram Lacher

Libya’s Conflicts Enter a Dangerous New Phase

SWP Comment 2019/C 08, February 2019, 4 Pages

doi:10.18449/2019C08

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Muriel Asseburg, Wolfram Lacher, Mareike Transfeld

Mission Impossible?

UN Mediation in Libya, Syria and Yemen

SWP Research Paper 2018/RP 08, October 2018, 60 Pages
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Wolfram Lacher

Tripoli’s Militia Cartel

How Ill-Conceived Stabilisation Blocks Political Progress, and Risks Renewed War

SWP Comment 2018/C 20, April 2018, 4 Pages
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Wolfram Lacher

Fault Lines of the Revolution

Political Actors, Camps and Conflicts in the New Libya

SWP Research Paper 2013/RP 04, May 2013, 36 Pages
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External Publications (selection):

Wolfram Lacher

Libya's Fragmentation

Structure and Process in Violent Conflict

London: I.B. Tauris, February 2020.
Wolfram Lacher

Who is Fighting Whom in Tripoli?

How the 2019 Civil War is Transforming Libya’s Military Landscape

in: Small Arms Survey, SANA Briefing Paper, August 2019
Wolfram Lacher

Le conflict libyen, creuset des réseaux régionaux

in: Géopolitique du Sahel et du Sahara, Hérodote - Revue de Géographie et de Géopolitique 2019/1 No.172, S. 23-42
Wolfram Lacher, Alaa al-Idrissi

Capital of Militias: Tripoli’s Armed Groups Capture the Libyan State

in: Small Arms Survey, SANA Briefing Paper, June 2018
Wolfram Lacher

Was Libya’s Collapse Predictable?

The debate over whether the Libyan intervention was justified should take as its starting point the imponderables facing decision-makers in March 2011.

in: Survival, 59 (2017) 2, p. 139-152

In the Media/ »Point of View« (selection):

Wolfram Lacher

Drones, Deniability, and Disinformation

Warfare in Libya and the New International Disorder

in: War on the Rocks, 03.03.2020 (online)
Wolfram Lacher

Who’s Fighting Haftar in Tripoli?

in: Small Arms Survey, SANA, Medium Small Arms Blog, July 2019
Wolfram Lacher, Frederic Wehrey

Libya’s New Civil War – and What the United States Can Do About it

In: Foreign Affairs, 30.05.2019 (online)
Wolfram Lacher

Think Libya's warring factions are only in in for the money? Think again.

in: Washington Post, Monkey Cage Blog, 10 April 2019.
Wolfram Lacher

« Le conflit à Tripoli vient du pillage de l’Etat par un cartel de milices mafieuses »

Selon le chercheur Wolfram Lacher, la crise dans la capitale libyenne est vouée à durer tant que de « nouveaux arrangements sécuritaires » n’auront pas été trouvés.

Interview by Frédéric Bobin, in: Le Monde Afrique, 06.09.2018 (online)

SWP Comments

Hamidreza Azizi
Iran’s Multi-Faceted Strategy in Deir ez‑Zor

From Fighting Terrorism to Creating a Zone of Influence

Isabelle Werenfels
Put the Ball in Tunisia’s Court

New Government and Urgency of Reform Require Modified EU Approach

SWP Research Papers

Stephan Roll
A Sovereign Wealth Fund for the Prince

Economic Reforms and Power Consolidation in Saudi Arabia

Muriel Asseburg, Wolfram Lacher, Mareike Transfeld
Mission Impossible?

UN Mediation in Libya, Syria and Yemen