Libya, isolated by much of the international community over the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am plane above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, has undergone a dramatic rehabilitation. Tripoli formally took responsibility for the incident in 2003. The move, which was part of a deal to compensate families of the 270 victims, heralded the lifting of UN sanctions. Months later, Libya renounced weapons of mass destruction paving the way for a further blossoming of relations with the West. Libya's leader, Colonel Muammar Al Gathafi, has expressed revolutionary thoughts that distinguish his country from the world around it. Ideas put forward in his Green Book aim at an alternative to both communism and capitalism while Islam is adhered to but with a unique slant. Republished in a new translation, The Green Book provides fresh insight into the thinking of Muammar Al Gathafi and his Third Universal Theory for a new democratic society. Outlined first is his theory for direct democracy in society, or Jamahiriya, which focuses on the authority of the people, renounces representation or delegation of authority, and recognizes the need for organization of the people at lower levels of society. In The Green Book, Muammar Al Gathafi also suggests an economic revolution, transforming societies of wage earners into companies of partners by applying a political and economic theory of social organization that gives the ownership and regulation of production, distribution, and exchange to the community as a whole. Additionally, the book looks at the launching of a social revolution, presenting solutions to man's struggles in life and the unsolved problems of man and woman, as well as tackling the situation of minorities by laying out sound principles of social life for all mankind. The Green Book provides readers with new insights into a fascinating country, and the philosophies of one the most controversial and prominent leaders alive today.
