RUINING REVOLUTION: HOW INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIST AND SALAFI FORCES HAVE HELD LIBYA HOSTAGE SINCE 2011
BY INGA K. TRAUTHIG
NOVEMBER 25, 2025
PUBLISHER: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
|
|
The political turmoil in Libya—which has claimed more than 20,000 lives and frustrated international partners since 2011—is an immensely complex struggle for power with a dizzying array of participants. How did Libya’s “Arab Spring” devolve into civil war after the removal of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi?
Ruining Revolution examines Libya’s descent into chaos, pinpointing the roles of Islamist and Salafi forces. Focusing on two key but underestimated movements, the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and Libyan Salafi-Madkhalis, Inga K. Trauthig argues that ideological groups have been of greater importance than previously assumed. She maps out crucial junctions in Libya’s recent history, tying in these movements’ pasts, to show how Islamist and Salafi forces have stoked instability. Although the 2011 Libyan revolution was not religious, these groups proved surprisingly well-equipped to capitalize on social and political fissures and to attract international support.
Featuring deep research and rigorous analysis, this book draws on a range of sources, including in-depth interviews and propaganda shared on social media. Ruining Revolution illuminates the dynamics that have shaped contemporary Libya—with significant policy implications for regional engagement—and offers broader insight into the underlying workings of a range of radical groups.
Indigo / Amazon
|
|
|
Reviews
This important and well-written work offers timely insights into Libya’s political development since the Arab Spring. Drawing on a range of painstakingly collected sources, it offers a rich analysis of how Salafist Islamist groups have adapted to the instability and insecurity in Libya over this period. In so doing, it charts and explains the important and complex roles that they have played. A must-read for anyone interested in Islamism and political instability in the Middle East. — Jonathan Hill, director of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, King’s College London
Uniquely focusing on the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and Libyan Salafi-Madkhalis, this book helps readers understand the current state of Libya, as the promise of the Arab Spring led to what would better be described as an Arab Winter. — Joana Cook, author of The Rule Is for None but Allah: Islamist Approaches to Governance
In Ruining Revolution, Inga Trauthig has produced an important work of scholarship with policy relevance. I worked on Libya as a British diplomat and United Nations coordinator, and wish I had had this book to consult. — Edmund Fitton-Brown, senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project
...Subtle and provocative... — Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs
|
See also:
Ruining Revolution as reviewed by Lisa Anderson for Foreign Affairs – May / June 2026
|
|
Ruining Revolution as reviewed by Idriss Mounir Lallali for JSTOR – June 2026
|
Ghouta residents commemorate the 12th anniversary of the 2013 chemical attack on Aug. 21, 2025, in Zamalka, Syria. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
|
|
About the book:
Ruining Revolution: How International Islamist and Salafi Forces Have Held Libya Hostage Since 2011
|
by Inga K. Trauthig
Columbia University Press – 279 pages $44.74 (Kindle)
Publication Date: November 25, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
About the Author: Inga Trauthig
Inga Trauthig is a research professor at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University (FIU). She is a security studies scholar and received her Ph.D. from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London (KCL).
Dr. Trauthig’s research interests cover the political and security impacts of emerging technologies (AI, decentralized technologies, encryption, virtual reality). As a social science researcher, she works to understand the effects of emerging technologies–particularly regarding democratic backsliding, shifting power dynamics, extremism and related security implications–and what can be done from a regulatory perspective to counter harmful consequences.
She has authored over 80 publications. The majority of those are peer-reviewed while others are op-eds or shorter, policy-focused pieces such as “Self-Regulation won’t Prevent Problematic Uses of Generative AI” for Lawfare. She has published in peer-reviewed journals like Big Data & Society, Conflict, Security & Development, Journal of Online Trust & Safety, Journal of Public Diplomacy, New Media & Society, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Political Communication and Political Research Quarterly. Dr. Trauthig has co-edited a special journal issue on conspiracy theories for the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Organized Section on Information Technology & Politics.
Dr. Trauthig lectured or presented at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Yale’s Law School. Her regional expertise is strongest on the Middle East, but she has also led research projects and authored publications on China, Germany, India, Russia, or the US.
Biography Credit: Florida International University
|
|
Book Review / Revue de livres
Disclaimer: Articles are chosen for relevance and circulated for information only. Views expressed are those of the respective journalists / authors. Republication does not infer endorsement.
Book Review Editor: Ralph Mahar - Suggestions for Book Reviews will be gratefully received at thepillarsociety.bulletins@gmail.com
