Third International Theory

The Third International Theory, also known as the Third Universal Theory (Arabic: نظرية عالمية ثالثة‎‎), refers to the style of government proposed by Col. Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s, on which his government, the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, was officially based. It was partly inspired by Islamic socialism, Arab nationalism, African nationalism and partly by the principles of direct democracy.

It has similarities with the system of Yugoslav municipal self management in Titoist Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Third Way during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as developed by Edvard Kardelj. It was proposed by Gaddafi as an alternative to capitalism and communism for Third World countries, based on the stated belief that both of these ideologies had been proven invalid.

The Higher Council for National Guidance was created to disseminate and implement this theory, and it found partial realization in Libya. By 2011 the fall and death of Gaddafi had seen his system dis-established and replaced by the National Transitional Council.

Key provisions of the Third International Theory are outlined in The Green Book (published from 1976–1979). It is a system of views which criticizes European-style democracy and Soviet Marxism in detail.

In the 1960s and 70s, in the countries of the Arab-Muslim East, various theories of "national brands of socialism", named "Islamic socialism", became widespread. This socialism was based on the principles of nationalism, religion and equality, and its ideas inspired a number of revolutions, popular uprisings and coups in the Arab world. Similarly, in Libya, on 1 September 1969 a group of Libyan army officers belonging to the Movement of Free Officers, Unionists, and Socialists overthrew the monarchy and proclaimed the Libyan Arab Republic. The supreme power was temporarily relegated to the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), headed by 27-year-old Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

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