owing a 1969 military coup, Col.
Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI began to espouse his own political
system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of
socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is
supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a
unique form of "direct democracy." QADHAFI has always seen himself
as a revolutionary and visionary leader. He used oil funds during
the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya,
supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of
Marxism and capitalism. In addition, beginning in 1973, he engaged
in military operations in northern Chad's Aozou Strip - to gain
access to minerals and to use as a base of influence in Chadian
politics - but was forced to retreat in 1987. UN sanctions in 1992
isolated QADHAFI politically following the downing of Pan AM Flight
103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Libyan support for terrorism appeared
to have decreased after the imposition of sanctions. During the
1990s, QADHAFI also began to rebuild his relationships with Europe.
UN sanctions were suspended in April 1999 and finally lifted in
September 2003 after Libya resolved the Lockerbie case. In December
2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its
programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, and QADHAFI has
made significant strides in normalizing relations with western
nations since then. He has received various Western European leaders
as well as many working-level and commercial delegations, and made
his first trip to Western Europe in 15 years when he traveled to
Brussels in April 2004. QADHAFI also resolved in 2004 some of the
outstanding cases against his government for terrorist activities in
the 1980s by compensating some families of victims of the Pan Am
103, French airliner UTA, and La Belle disco bombings. The US
resumed full diplomatic relations with Libya in May 2006 and
rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in
June.
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein was established
within the Holy Roman Empire in 1719; it became a sovereign state in
1806. Until the end of World War I, it was closely tied to Austria,
but the economic devastation caused by that conflict forced
Liechtenstein to enter into a customs and monetary union with
Switzerland. Since World War II (in which Liechtenstein remaine
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