The Third International Theory () was the style of government proposed by Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s, on which his government, the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, was officially based. It was partly inspired by Islamic socialism, African nationalism and partly by the principles of direct democracy. It has similarities with the system of Yugoslav municipal self-management in Titoist Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Third Way during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as developed by Edvard Kardelj. It was also inspired in part by the "Little Red Book" of Mao Zedong and the Three Worlds Theory. 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. 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. The fall of Gaddafi and his death in 2011 led to the disestablishment of his system and its replacement by the National Transitional Council. Background Key provisions of the Third International Theory are outlined in The Green Book (published from 1976–1979). It is a system of views which criticizes European-style democracy and Soviet Marxism in detail. Intellectual and political context In the 1960s and 70s, in the countries of the Arab-Muslim East, various theories of "national brands of socialism", named "Islamic socialism", became widespread. This socialism was based on the principles of nationalism, religion and equality, and its ideas inspired a number of revolutions, popular uprisings and coups in the Arab world. Similarly, in Libya, on 1 September 1969 a group of Libyan army officers belonging to the Movement of Free Officers, Unionists, and Socialists overthrew the monarchy and proclaimed the Libyan Arab Republic. The supreme power was temporarily relegated to the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), headed by 27-year-old Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The anti-imperialist orientation of the Libyan revolution manifested itself clearly in the first months of the new regime. On 7 October 1969 at the 24th Session of UN General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Libya announced its intention to eliminate all foreign bases on Libyan land. Following this, the Libyan leadership informed the ambassadors of the United States and Britain that it was terminating the respective agreements. Almost at the same time an offensive began against the position of foreign capital in the economy. The