The headlines are buzzing with a naive optimism that borders on the delusional. "In a first, Libya’s rival forces take part in joint US-led military exercises." It sounds like a breakthrough. It reads like the opening chapter of a peace treaty. It is, in reality, a carefully choreographed photo op that masks a decaying security architecture.
Military exercises do not create armies. They create performers.
For years, the international community has operated under the hallucination that if you put the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Government of National Unity (GNU) forces in the same room—or the same desert—the friction will magically melt into cooperation. This isn't diplomacy; it's a dangerous misunderstanding of how power functions in North Africa.
The Professionalization Trap
The prevailing narrative suggests that U.S.-led training "professionalizes" these groups, pulling them away from tribal loyalties and toward a unified national identity. This is a fundamental misreading of the incentive structures on the ground.
In Libya, military power is the only currency that matters. When the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) invites "rival" factions to participate in exercises like African Lion or specialized training sessions, they aren't building a national army. They are subsidizing the tactical capabilities of competing militias.
I’ve watched Western advisors pour millions into "capacity building" in broken states for two decades. The result is almost always the same: the local actors take the optics to gain international legitimacy, take the training to sharpen their lethality, and then return to their respective corners to wait for the next internal flare-up.
Professionalism requires a single chain of command. Libya has at least two. Training them together doesn't bridge that gap; it just ensures that when the next civil war starts, both sides will be using the same American-taught maneuvers to kill each other.
Diplomacy by Optics
Why does the U.S. persist with this? Because it looks good on a PowerPoint slide in Washington. It allows bureaucrats to check a box labeled "regional stability" without having to solve the intractable political deadlock between Tripoli and Benghazi.
The "rival forces" mentioned in these reports aren't integrated. They are adjacent.
Imagine two rival gangs being invited by the police to a shooting range to "work on their aim together" in the hopes they stop being gangs. It’s absurd. Yet, that is precisely the logic being applied to the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC). The JMC is a fragile ceasefire committee, not a unified high command. Treating it as the latter is a strategic blunder that ignores the reality of Libyan geography and greed.
The Russia-Wagner Variable
The most significant flaw in the "unity through exercises" argument is the elephant in the room: the Russian presence.
While the U.S. is busy organizing joint drills, the Wagner Group (now rebranded under the Russian Defense Ministry’s "Africa Corps") has deep roots in the east. You cannot "unify" an army when one half of it is fundamentally intertwined with a Russian mercenary backbone that serves Moscow’s Mediterranean ambitions.
The U.S. thinks it is competing for influence by offering training. In reality, it is participating in a "market of military services." The Libyan factions aren't looking for a partner; they are looking for a buffet. They will take the U.S. training in the morning and consult with Russian or Turkish "advisors" in the evening.
By pretending these joint exercises represent a "first step" toward a unified military, the West is providing a smokescreen for these factions to continue their dual-track diplomacy. It gives the appearance of progress while the status quo—divided, armed, and volatile—remains untouched.
The Counter-Intuitive Truth About Stability
If the goal is a stable Libya, stop trying to force "jointness" on people who benefit from division.
Real stability in Libya won't come from a shared firing line in a US-led exercise. It comes from the complete dismantling of the militia economy. Currently, being a commander of a "rival force" is the most profitable job in the country. These men control oil ports, smuggling routes, and central bank access.
Why would they ever truly unify?
True unification means the loss of individual power. It means some commanders must go to jail, and others must retire to private life. No amount of joint training will convince a man to give up a fiefdom for a desk job in a unified ministry.
The Risks We Ignore
There is a dark side to this "engagement" that no one wants to talk about: the legitimization of bad actors.
By inviting commanders from factions accused of human rights abuses to sit at the high table of international military cooperation, the U.S. signals that all is forgiven as long as you show up for the drill. This erodes the moral authority of the international community and tells the Libyan people that the West cares more about the appearance of a unified front than the actual conduct of the men holding the guns.
Stop Funding the Standoff
The "People Also Ask" sections of the internet want to know: "Is Libya finally unifying?"
The honest answer is: No. It is merely reorganizing its divisions to satisfy foreign donors.
The unconventional advice? Stop the drills. Stop the joint training. Stop the optics.
Engagement should be contingent on verifiable, ground-level integration—starting with the payroll. If the soldiers aren't being paid by the same central authority through the same transparent mechanism, they aren't a "joint force." They are two separate armies wearing the same T-shirt for a week.
We are currently subsidizing a stalemate. We are providing the training that makes the inevitable return to conflict more precise and more deadly.
If you want to fix Libya, stop treating the symptoms of division and start attacking the incentives that make division profitable. Until then, these joint exercises are nothing more than a high-stakes rehearsal for a play that will never open.
The next time you see a photo of "rival commanders" shaking hands at a U.S. military base, look at their eyes, not their hands. They aren't looking at a shared future. They are looking at the exits.
Stop buying the lie that proximity equals peace.
