Third International Theory
The Third International Theory (Arabic: نظرية عالمية ثالثة), also known as the Third Universal Theory and Gaddafism, was the style of government proposed by Muammar Gaddafi on 15 April 1973 in his Zuwara speech,[11] on which his government, the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, was officially based. It combined elements of Arab nationalism, Nasserism,[12] Anti-imperialism, Islamic socialism, left-wing populism,[13][14] African nationalism, Pan-Arabism,[15] and it was partly influenced by the principles of direct democracy.[7] The theory also contained elements of Islamic fundamentalism, for Gaddafi argued that Muslims needed to return to God and the Qur'an and rejected formal interpretation of the Qur'an as blasphemy.[1] However, Gaddafi's regime has been described as Islamist, rather than fundamentalist, for he opposed Salafism, and many Islamic fundamentalists were imprisoned during his rule.[16]
Third International Theory نظرية عالمية ثالثة
It has similarities with the system of Yugoslav socialist self-management in Titoist Yugoslavia during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as developed by Edvard Kardelj.[7] It was also inspired in part by the "Little Red Book" of Mao Zedong and the Three Worlds Theory.[17] It was proposed by Gaddafi as an alternative to capitalism and Marxism–Leninism for Third World countries, based on the stated belief that both of these ideologies had been proven invalid.[1]
The Higher Council for National Guidance was created to disseminate and implement this theory, and it found partial realization in Libya, a self-proclaimed utopian model state.[18] The fall of Gaddafi and his death in 2011 led to the disestablishment of his system and its replacement by the National Transitional Council.