At the beginning of this decade the Middle East, traditionally one of the most turbulent regions in the world, underwent a new large-scale destabilization during the Arab Awakening. Among the states that faced truly disastrous consequences Libya stands apart. First, the overthrow of the M. Qaddafi’s authoritarian regime was carried out with the help of external armed intervention conducted by the NATO forces, and second, it led to the transformation of Libya into a zone of chronic instability and a source of security threats for both neighboring states and the world community as a whole. Extra-regional actors face the need to assist Libya in order to mitigate these challenges and, at the same time, significant risks related to the ongoing conflict. This paper identified the role of the United States and the European Union as the leading global donors in providing assistance aimed at strengthening new Libyan statehood. The paper consists of two main sections. The first section provides a brief description of developments in Libya after the overthrow of the Qaddafi regime. The second section outlines the main internal and external determinants that influenced the formation of the U.S. and the EU policies towards Libya, as well as specific actions taken by them to help the North African country in three main directions: promotion of a political settlement, economic development and the fight against security challenges and threats, in particular, transnational terrorism. The conclusion is drawn that an apparent caution of the Libyan policies of Washington and Brussels after 2011 was conditioned both by domestic (for the countries of the Euro-Atlantic community) political and economic factors, and by the dynamics of the political situation within Libya. Operating in conditions of budgetary constraints, Western countries preferred to focus on shortterm goals in the absence of a unified government in Libya, while demonstrating a lack of an integrated approach to facilitate the formation of a new statehood in this country of the Maghreb.