''The Green Book'' ( ar, الكتاب الأخضر ') is a short book setting out the

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

of Libyan leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. The book was first published in 1975. It is said to have been inspired in part by ''The Little Red Book'' (''

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung ''Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung'' () is a book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong (formerly romanized as Mao Tse-tung), the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to about 1976 and wid ...

''). Both were widely distributed both inside and outside their country of origin, and "written in a simple, understandable style with many memorable slogans". An English translation was issued by the Libyan People's Committee, and a bilingual

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

edition was issued in London by Martin, Brian & O'Keeffe in 1976. During the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

, copies of the book were burned by anti-Gaddafi demonstrators.

Influence

In Libya

According to British author and former

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

member

George Tremlett George William Tremlett (September 5, 1939 – October 30, 2021) was an English author, bookshop owner, and politician. Writing According to his own mini-biography, after leaving King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon Tremlett worked f ...

, Libyan children spent two hours a week studying the book as part of their curriculum. Extracts were broadcast every day on

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and radio. Its slogans were also found on billboards and painted on buildings in Libya.

International

By 1993 lectures and seminars on ''The Green Book'' had been held at

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. On a state visit to Libya in 2008, socialist

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

n President

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to co ...

cited the Green Book as a major influence on his political beliefs and policies.

''The Green Book'' consists of three parts and has 110 pages. * The Solution of the Problem of Democracy: The Authority of the People (published in late 1975) * The Solution of the Economic Problem:

Socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

(published in early 1977) * The Social Basis of the

Third International Theory The Third International Theory () was the style of government proposed by Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s, on which his government, the History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi#Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011), G ...

(published in September 1981)

Views

''The Green Book'' rejects both

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, as well as

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...

. Instead, it proposes a type of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

overseen by the

General People's Committee The General People's Committee ( ar, اللجنة الشعبية العامة, ''al-lajna ash-sha'biyya al-'āmma''), often abbreviated as the GPCO, was the executive branch of the government of Libya, during the existence of Muammar Gaddafi's L ...

which allows direct

political participation Citizen Participation or Public Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participato ...

for all adult citizens. The book states that "

Freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

is the natural right of every person, even if they choose to behave irrationally, to express his or her insanity." ''The Green Book'' states that

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

is based upon

public ownership State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...

of book publishers, newspapers, television, and radio stations, on the grounds that

private ownership Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Legal personality, legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and Personal property, personal property, which is owned by a s ...

would be undemocratic. A paragraph in the book about abolishing money is similar to a paragraph in

Frederick Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Principles of Communism ''Principles of Communism'' (German: ''Grundsätze des Kommunismus'') is a brief 1847 work written by Friedrich Engels, the co-founder of Marxism. It is structured as a catechism, containing 25 questions about communism for which answers are pr ...

''. Gaddafi wrote: "The final step is when the new socialist society reaches the stage where profit and money disappear. It is through transforming society into a fully productive society, and through reaching in production a level where the material needs of the members of society are satisfied. On that final stage, profit will automatically disappear and there will be no need for money."

Summary

The following table gives a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book.

Reception

George Tremlett has called the resulting media dull and lacking in a clash of ideas.

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

Professor Dirk Vandewalle describes the book as more a collection of

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

s than a systematic argument. U.S. Ambassador David Mack called the book quite jumbled, with various ideas including "a fair amount of xenophobia" wrapped up in "strange mixture". Writing for the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, the journalist Martin Asser described the book as follows: "The theory claims to solve the contradictions inherent in capitalism and communism... In fact, it is little more than a series of fatuous diatribes, and it is bitterly ironic that a text whose professed objective is to break the shackles... has been used instead to subjugate an entire population." The book caused a scandal in 1987, when

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

club ECD Iserlohn, led by

Heinz Weifenbach Heinz Weifenbach (11 July 1939 – 21 February 2015) was a German ice hockey executive best known for the 1987 advertising contract he negotiated in which his club, the ECD Iserlohn, advertised Muammar Gaddafi's ''The Green Book (Libya), Green Boo ...

, signed a US$900,000 advertising deal for the book. On a 2008 visit to Libya it was reported by Libyan state media that Bolivian President

remarked "I read the Green Book, studied it and I am enthusiastic about the thinking spelled out in the Green Book".

References

External links

*''

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

:'
Formats and editions of ''The Green Book''OpenAnthropology.org: The Green Book (pdf file)The Green Book in the original Arabic (pdf file)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Book, The 1975 non-fiction books Books by Muammar Gaddafi Libyan literature History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi Islamism in Libya Islamist works Political books Political manifestos Politics of Libya Propaganda books and pamphlets Socialism in Libya