Impressions of Libya

By Dr. John O. Sutter

The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya -- quite a mouthful -- is the official name for the country in the Maghrib between Tunisia and Egypt.
From 1 to 8 July, a delegation of 13 American world governmentalists and peace activists (including World Federalists Esther Franklin, Eric Schultz, and John Sutter), led by Professor Glen T. Martin of the World Constitution and Parliament Association, visited Libya as guests of the Libyan authorities. (Shortly before, on 28 June, the United States and Libya had reestablished diplomatic relations.) In addition to seminars, a number of visits in and out from the capital Tripoli were arranged.
Historical Note
Libya's indigenous peoples were colonized by the Phoenicians (as early as 1000 BCE), and then the Greeks, Romans (building such cities as Leptis Magna and Sabratha, visited by the group), Vandals, and Visigoths. The spread of Muslim armies across North Africa in the 7th Century CE brought the Islamic Arab culture to Libya, and for many centuries it was ruled by the Ottoman Turks. However, from 1912 into World War II the people reportedly suffered as a colony of Italy, ruled at the end by the Fascist "Leader" Benito Mussolini.
Political Democracy
As our hosts explained in a session on democracy, governments throughout the world pass through three stages. First came the monarchy. The post-war British occupation of Libya installed Idris, a tribal leader, as King.
Next comes representative democracy in the form of the republic. While the foreign settlers thrived under the monarchy in Libya, the indigenous people reportedly felt exploited, leading to the revolution of 1969 under Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi, who then served as President of the Republic until 1976.
Meanwhile, Qaddafi created a socio-politico ideology to overcome some of the problems inherent with the previous institutions and published his views in The Green Book.
In his eyes a shortcoming of representative democracy is exposed in many countries after the people have elected their representatives when the latter often ignore the needs and wishes of their constituents and proceed to serve other interests.
This led Qaddafi in 1976 to launch Libya into the third stage and began an experiment of jamahiriya -- direct democracy. The country is divided into Basic Popular Conferences (averaging roughly 20,000 inhabitants), where the citizens (women as well as men) meet and make decisions (pass ordinances) on the governance of their local communities, not unlike the New England town meetings. Each such conference elects a secretariat, which meets at the General People's Congress in the new administrative capital Surt and conveys decisions from the local level in the process of making the laws of the land.
Qaddafi denounced the incessant struggle of political parties for power, which was to the detriment of the people. In The Green Book, he sought to unify the population away from the divisive elements of class, party, tribe or sect. (When I inquired about the role of the mullahs, I was informed, "There are no mullahs!") Nevertheless, while not called a political party, the Revolutionary Committees Movement appears to play a dominant role in governing Libya. In contrast, while apparently Head of State, Qaddafi -- known as "the Leader" -- has no formal position in the government.
Economic Democracy
Despite references to "Libyan Socialism" in the country's name, there is nothing Marxist in Libyan economic policy. Quite the contrary: individual entrepreneurship is encouraged. On the other hand, corporation autocracy is considered repugnant, and having wage-workers -- considered to be a form of slavery to company masters -- is discouraged.
Accordingly, if a number of persons are interested in manufacturing or selling something, they are encouraged to join together as owner-producers, and share in the work and profits. I remarked that this economic institution could be found in the northern United States and parts of Europe. We call it a cooperative.
With Libya financing social services from natural gas and petroleum exports, its people appear well off, with virtually no poverty and only a minimal spread in income between those at the bottom and the top -- in stark contrast to the situation in the affluent U.S. We were also informed that Libya provides universal health care and free education through the university level.
Foreign Policy
One of our sessions was devoted to American foreign policy as viewed from the Arab and Islamic perspectives. Many of our hosts had earned degrees in the United States and were well-read. They made clear that while they liked Americans as individuals, they deplored U.S. foreign policy, which they felt was biased and unbalanced. They traced antipathy of many Muslims toward the U.S. to our country's unrelenting support of Israel despite its continued aggression against the Palestinians. One of our interlocutors had read four books by Binyamin Netanyahu and noted that the former prime minister tried, in an effort to portray Israel as marching with the U.S. in the war against terrorism, to link the Palestinians' resistance against the Israeli occupiers to the terrorism of al-Qaida. The Libyans were also aware that Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser had worked for Netanyahu before securing positions within the U.S. Department of Defense in 2001.
Nevertheless, Qaddafi offered his own solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a single state for Jews and Palestinians, that he called "Isratine."
Reflecting the "Arab" in the country's formal title, and considering Libya to be a leading member of the Arab nations, Qadaffi for many years sought to play a role in the 22-member Arab League. Maps showing a sweep of countries from the Atlantic across North Africa to Arabia, Palestine, and Iraq can still be found in many places. However, after a falling out with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Qaddafi is giving greater attention to Africa and the new African Union.

Meanwhile, reflecting its range of interests, Libya hosts the General Forum for Arab-African Non-Governmental Organizations (FONGAF), which claims over 400 member organizations.

Final Thoughts

A largely desert country, Libya has overcome a water shortage by a huge construction project, the Great Man-Made River, which brings sweet (fresh) water from aquifiers in the south through giant tunnels and pipes to the population along the Mediterranean coast.

Although equality of women is provided for in The Green Book, women (mostly Muslim) are expected to be nurturing mothers during their fertile years. Many of us would have liked to ask about careers for women whose children have already grown up -- such as often occurs in the United States (and among members of our delegation). However, while not a single woman could be found among our many host-speakers, they can be found (unshrouded) in many of the offices, hospitals, and schools. And so, while women's liberation in Libya is far better than in Arabia, it still has a way to go to equal, say the largest Muslim country -- Indonesia.

In sum, the good life of Libyans appears from first impression to be well provided for under the ubiquitous glance of "the Leader." A followup visit to check early observations could be warranted.

Dr. John O. Sutter is President of the Democratic World Federalists.