Muammar Gaddafi encouraged a policy.
Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi ( [ ˈmoʊ.əmɑr _ ɡəˈdɑːfi ] ; 20 October 2011 ) , commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi , was a Libyan revolutionary , politician , and political theorist . He was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism , but he came to rule according to his own Third International Theory . From 1999 , Gaddafi rejected Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatisation , rapprochement with Western nations , and Pan-Africanism ; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 -- 10 .