Why did Gaddafi support so many groups?

[Blanquist]

groups from the uk, to indonesia, and all over africa and the middle east, everywhere really.

obiouvsly he had quiet the erudition but did he really follow the happenings of nearly every country in the world?

a lot of the support did not seem to effect him in any way, what was the point in supporting the Free Papua Movement for example?


did any of this support have significant effects on today's world?

[jookyle]

I don't know about the Free Papua movement specifically but, he was a Pan-Arabist and supported a lot pan-arabist related groups and activities.

[Imposter Marxist]

He gave support to various pan-arab, socialist, arab-socialist, and anti-imperialist organizations.

Some might say Libya actually supported these things.

I believe it was a front to set up state capitalism.

[wsg1991]

he was a pan-Arabist , then Pan-Africa , he was anti imperialist power then gave up that n 2003 ,
his domestic policies are a failure , he badly used his oil revenue , as his social spending were subsidies , and free supplies . but no real education or healthcare

libyan healthcare is a joke , i know that since i live in Sfax , a city 300 km away from Libya borders , and the closest Tunisian city with a CHU ( hospital-university complex ) , well 80% of private Clinics customers are Libyans , and we got even few private small hospitals that work primary with Libyans , well thanks Gaddafi and i don't expect things to change with this new government

[Sten]

Most of those groups were fighting against imperialist domination, which might be the reason why he supported them. I admit I'm not that knowledgeable about the topic, though, so I'm just speculating.

[Sasha]

the enemy of my enemy is my friend, he just as easely financed neo-nazi's in germany and austria as the IRA, palestinian groups and muslim fundamentalists

[Luc]

the enemy of my enemy is my friend, he just as easely financed neo-nazi's in germany and austria as the IRA, palestinian groups and muslim fundamentalists

to add to psycho's list he funded and armed the Nationalist Party of Canada. Wolfgang Droege's Heritage Front for a bit tried to get the same

[Zealot]

He supported basically anyone who would upset the imperialist order whether that meant Nazis, religious fundamentalists or Socialists.

[Sasha]

He supported basically anyone who would upset the competing imperialist order whether that meant Nazis, religious fundamentalists or Socialists.

fixed that for you... ;)

[Luís Henrique]

Some of these groups probably helped kept him informed on Libyan expats.

Luís Henrique

[L.A.P.]

He funded several rebel groups in Africa and helped build infastructure in Africa because it put Libya in place as the regional imperial power, I wrotre about this on my current Laureate paper on Kony 2012. He also supported the IRA, some communist groups, Islamists, nationalists, pretty much any anti-Western imperialist organizations he could find. His support for such groups outside Africa did little except keep up his "radical" PR image.

[ArrowLance]

I think it's pretty standard for countries and leaders to support a very broad range of movements.

[Small Geezer]

I think it's pretty standard for countries and leaders to support a very broad range of movements.

Not really. Gaddafi stood out as sponsoring probably the widest range of movements.

I think this says more about Gaddafi's insanity than anything else.

[Raúl Duke]

I think he probably supported such a wide range of groups as a means to look for support. Although, some of this support seems a bit futile and perhaps detrimental...but hey like other posters say maybe he was a bit crazy.

[hatzel]

Or, in case there are any Gaddafi supporters left:

Because proletarian internationalism!!! :thumbup:

That's the standard explanation in these kinds of situations, right...?