With the 2011 uprisings and the fall of the Qadhafi regime, Libya has experienced a radical transformation of its political system, with significant social and economic changes in state and society. As the current context remains fluid, understanding the new Libyan political economy is fraught with difficulty and uncertainty: which factors from Libyan history – old and recent – are still relevant, and what is new? This rapid review of the literature identified a limited rigorous evidence base on these questions.