Editing Muammar Gaddafi (section)

====Economic and social reform====

[[File:Nasser Qaddafi Atassi 1969.jpg|thumb|Gaddafi at an Arab summit in Libya in 1969, shortly after the September Revolution that toppled [[Idris of Libya|King Idris I]]. Gaddafi sits in military uniform in the middle, surrounded by Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] (left) and Syrian President [[Nureddin al-Atassi]] (right).]]

The RCC's early economic policy has been characterized as being [[state capitalism|state capitalist]] in orientation.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=124}} Many initiatives were established to aid entrepreneurs and develop a Libyan bourgeoisie.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=123}} Seeking to expand the cultivatable acreage in Libya, in September 1969 the government launched a "Green Revolution" to increase agricultural productivity so that Libya could rely less on imported food.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=128}} The hope was to make Libya self-sufficient in food production.{{sfn|El-Khawas|1984|p=34}} All land that had either been expropriated from Italian settlers or which was not in use was repossessed and redistributed.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=129}} Irrigation systems were established along the northern coastline and around various inland oases.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|pp=130–132}} Production costs often surpassed the value of the produce and thus Libyan agricultural production remained in deficit, relying heavily on state subsidies.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=132}}

With [[crude oil]] as the country's primary export, Gaddafi sought to improve Libya's oil sector.{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1pp=66–67|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2pp=145–146}} In October 1969, he proclaimed the current trade terms unfair, benefiting foreign corporations more than the Libyan state, and threatened to decrease production. In December Jalloud successfully increased the price of Libyan oil.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1pp=80–88|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2pp=66–67|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3pp=145–146}} In 1970, other [[OPEC]] states followed suit, leading to a global increase in the price of crude oil.{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1pp=66–67|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2pp=145–146}} The RCC followed with the Tripoli Agreement of 20 March 1971, in which they secured income tax, back-payments and better pricing from the oil corporations; these measures brought Libya an estimated $1&nbsp;billion in additional revenues in its first year.{{sfnm|1a1=Vandewalle|1y=2008b|1p=15|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2p=147}}

Increasing state control over the oil sector, the RCC began a program of [[nationalization]], starting with the expropriation of [[BP|British Petroleum]]'s share of the British Petroleum-N.B. Hunt Sahir Field in December 1971.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=90|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=68|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3p=147}} In September 1973, it was announced that all foreign oil producers active in Libya were to see 51 per cent of their operation nationalized, including the stake of [[Nelson Bunker Hunt]], son of [[H.L. Hunt]], who had played a key role in the discovery of oil in Libya.<ref name="Libya">{{Cite book| last = Greenwood| first = C. J.| title = International Law Reports| publisher = Cambridge University Press| year = 1984| volume = 66| page = 340| isbn = 0-521-46411-0}}</ref> Among the companies that were partially nationalized was [[Armand Hammer]]'s [[Occidental Petroleum]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 November 1981|title=The Riddle of Armand Hammer|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/29/magazine/the-riddle-of-armand-hammer.html|access-date=3 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=17 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217222637/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/29/magazine/the-riddle-of-armand-hammer.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=8 February 1974|title=Occidental-Libya Exploration Pact Set|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/08/archives/occidentallibya-exploration-pact-set.html|access-date=3 February 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=11 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011054821/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/08/archives/occidentallibya-exploration-pact-set.html|url-status=live}}</ref> For Gaddafi, this was an essential step towards socialism.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=91|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=68|3a1=St. John|3y=1987|3p=116|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=147}} It proved an economic success; while gross domestic product had been $3.8&nbsp;billion in 1969, it had risen to $13.7&nbsp;billion in 1974, and $24.5&nbsp;billion in 1979.{{sfn|Blundy|Lycett|1987|p=107}} In turn, the Libyans' standard of life greatly improved over the first decade of Gaddafi's administration, and by 1979 the average per-capita income was at $8,170, up from $40 in 1951; this was above the average of many industrialized countries like Italy and the UK.{{sfn|Blundy|Lycett|1987|p=107}} In 1969, the government also declared that all foreign owned banks must either close down or convert to joint-stock operations.{{sfn|El-Khawas|1984|p=28}}

[[File:Sadat Qaddafi Assad 1971.jpg|thumb|left|In 1971, Egypt's [[Anwar Sadat]], Libya's Gaddafi and Syria's [[Hafez al-Assad]] signed an agreement [[Federation of Arab Republics|to form a federal Union of Arab Republics]]. The agreement never materialized into a federal union between the three Arab states.]]

The RCC implemented measures for social reform, adopting ''sharia'' as a basis.{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1p=64|2a1=Vandewalle|2y=2008b|2p=31|3a1=Kawczynski|3y=2011|3p=21|4a1=St. John|4y=2012|4p=134}} The consumption of alcohol was prohibited, night clubs and [[Christianity in Libya|Christian churches]] were shut down, traditional Libyan dress was encouraged, and Arabic was decreed as the only language permitted in official communications and on road signs.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1p=72|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=64|3a1=Vandewalle|3y=2008b|3p=31|4a1=Kawczynski|4y=2011|4p=21|5a1=St. John|5y=2012|5p=134}} The RCC doubled the [[minimum wage]], introduced statutory price controls, and implemented compulsory rent reductions of between 30 and 40 per cent.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=73}} Gaddafi also wanted to combat the strict social restrictions that had been imposed on women by the previous regime, establishing the [[Revolutionary Women's Formation]] to encourage reform.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=196}} In 1970, a law was introduced affirming equality of the sexes and insisting on wage parity.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=198}} In 1971, Gaddafi sponsored the creation of a Libyan General Women's Federation.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=197}} In 1972, a law was passed criminalizing the marriage of any females under the age of sixteen and ensuring that a woman's consent was a necessary prerequisite for a marriage.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=198}} Gaddafi's regime opened up a wide range of educational and employment opportunities for women, although these primarily benefited a minority in the urban middle-classes.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=198}}

From 1969 to 1973, it used oil money to fund social welfare programs, which led to housebuilding projects and improved healthcare and education.{{sfnm|1a1=Kawczynski|1y=2011|1p=23|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2p=149}} House building became a major social priority, designed to eliminate homelessness and to replace the [[shanty town]]s created by Libya's growing urbanization.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=73}} The health sector was also expanded; by 1978, Libya had 50 per cent more hospitals than it had in 1968, while the number of doctors had increased from 700 to over 3000 in that decade.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=74}} [[Malaria]] was eradicated, and [[trachoma]] and [[tuberculosis]] greatly curtailed.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=74}} Compulsory education was expanded from 6 to 9 years, while adult literacy programs and free university education were introduced.{{sfn|Harris|1986|p=38}} [[Bayda, Libya#Education|Beida University]] was founded, while [[Tripoli University]] and [[Benghazi University]] were expanded.{{sfn|Harris|1986|p=38}} In doing so, the government helped to integrate the poorer strata of Libyan society into the education system.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|pp=74–75}} Through these measures, the RCC greatly expanded the [[public sector]], providing employment for thousands.{{sfnm|1a1=Kawczynski|1y=2011|1p=23|2a1=St. John|2y=2012|2p=149}} These early social programs proved popular within Libya.{{sfnm|1a1=Harris|1y=1986|1p=19|2a1=Kawczynski|2y=2011|2p=22|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3p=149}} This popularity was partly due to Gaddafi's personal charisma, youth and underdog status as a Bedouin, as well as his rhetoric emphasizing his role as the successor to the anti-Italian fighter [[Omar Mukhtar]].{{sfnm|1a1=Vandewalle|1y=2008b|1pp=31–32|2a1=Kawczynski|2y=2011|2p=22}}

To combat the country's strong regional and tribal divisions, the RCC promoted the idea of a unified pan-Libyan identity.{{sfn|St. John|2012|p=154}} In doing so, they tried discrediting tribal leaders as agents of the old regime, and in August 1971 a Sabha military court tried many of them for counter-revolutionary activity.{{sfn|St. John|2012|p=154}} Long-standing administrative boundaries were re-drawn, crossing tribal boundaries, while pro-revolutionary modernizers replaced traditional leaders, yet the communities they served often rejected them.{{sfn|St. John|2012|pp=154–155}} Realizing the failures of the modernizers, Gaddafi created the [[Arab Socialist Union (Libya)|Arab Socialist Union]] (ASU) in June 1971, a mass mobilization [[vanguard party]] of which he was president.{{sfnm|1a1=Bearman|1y=1986|1pp=136–137|2a1=Blundy|2a2=Lycett|2y=1987|2p=91|3a1=Vandewalle|3y=2006|3p=83|4a1=Vandewalle|4y=2008b|4p=11|5a1=St. John|5y=2012|5p=155}} The ASU recognized the RCC as its "Supreme Leading Authority", and was designed to further revolutionary enthusiasm throughout the country.{{sfnm|1a1=Blundy|1a2=Lycett|1y=1987|1p=91|2a1=Vandewalle|2y=2008b|2p=11|3a1=St. John|3y=2012|3p=155}} It remained heavily bureaucratic and failed to mobilize mass support in the way Gaddafi had envisioned.{{sfn|Bearman|1986|p=138}}