The atmosphere in Tripoli on 20 October 2011, when the last remnants of Muammar Gaddafi’s forces were defeated, and Gaddafi himself along with his son Mutassim were killed, was one of almost unbridled hope. The then longest-serving head of state, an authoritarian dictator with a highly personalised and increasingly totalitarian …

Not only has the state so far been unable to bring the militias under control, it has also not managed to repair roads, rebuild buildings, clean the streets or provide power to its citizens.