Redefining the Libyan revolution: the changing ideology of Muammar al-Qaddafi

Abstract

On 1 September 1969, the Free Unionist Officers movement, led by Captain Muammar al-Qaddafi, executed a successful coup d'état, overthrowing the monarchical regime that had ruled Libya since independence in 1951. From the outset, Qaddafi articulated a comprehensive, well-thought-out ideology, grounded in the revolutionary trinity of freedom, socialism and unity. For almost two decades, continuity and consistency were the dominant characteristics of the ideology of the One September Revolution; however, internal and external pressures combined to force Qaddafi to introduce small but noteworthy reforms in the second half of the 1980s. Following a prolonged period of international isolation, Qaddafi at the end of the 1990s again began to tout significant reforms. In the process, most of the major ideological tenets of the One September Revolution were modified, replaced, or discarded. The unique system of direct democracy developed by the Libyan leader in the 1970s remained the only important element of his original ideology to prove largely impervious to change.