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Nevertheless, Mr Obama has reluctantly concluded that he cannot afford to let Nato be humiliated in Libya, and that if America does not take a more active role in trying to shape the country's future, the danger is that it will slide into the abyss. Other considerations add to a sense of urgency among the Western policy-makers on Libya. The conflict has already prompted a quarter of a million people to flee across the border, mainly to Tunisia. The nightmare scenario for countries on the other side of the Mediterranean is that the northward flow of asylum-seekers from the region, which has increased recently, will turn into a flood if the conflict drags on interminably and life in Libya becomes intolerable.