Even after the Benghazi assault, Lawrence said there’s “still a lot of pro-American feeling in Libya” but that the government’s failure to install reforms in a post-Qaddafi era have left Libyans “a little more disheartened.” Still, the Arab Spring is generally seen as “a good thing” for Libya and the region, Lawrence said|More in After the Arab Spring “The new infrastructures needed to make Libya more secure, it just hasn’t happened yet,” said Lawrence|”Basically in Libya, you’ve got 1,700 militias running the country still and not much of the police or army infrastructure.” Lawrence said the Libyan government isn’t effectively finding solutions to build up the national army and the police force after the death of Muammar Qaddafi in late 2011|”There were autocrats in place who were privileging stability over progress, and a lot of these were longtime allies of the U.S., but these governments were corrupt and really not moving these populations forward, so the Arab Spring had to happen to get rid of some of these autocrats,” said Lawrence, “but what we were left with in the wake of their departure were Islamist groups because in many of these countries Islamists were the best organized.” Lawrence said he’s optimistic for the region in the long term|11 terror attacks|U.S|Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the assault}