Arab League: Time to evolve amidst changing discourse in the region

The Arab League Summit is scheduled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 19th May 2023. Consisting of 22 members and headquartered at Cairo, it is a major regional forum for countries in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, especially on economy, regional politics and security. Coming at a time amidst a major churn in the geopolitics of the region, this could be a landmark summit of the Arab League. Already, the Saudi-Iran peace deal brokered by China in March 2023 is taking shape and promises to end many conflicts in the region and pave the way for a period of reconciliation and peace. 

As regards the Arab League too, there have been positive developments. The latest development is the decision to re-admit Syria into the forum, 12 years after its membership was revoked when Syria plunged into a civil war following a violent crackdown on protesters in March 2011 during the ‘Arab Spring’ protests. On 7th May, the foreign ministers of the Arab League agreed to reinstate Syria’s membership as a part of a larger reconciliation exercise in the region. The only voice of dissent came from Qatar which stated that although it will not oppose the re-entry of Syria into the Arab League, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted that it will however not re-establish relations with Syria in the absence of a political solution that addresses “the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people.”

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The Arab League

The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22nd March 1945, as a symbol of Arab unity or Pan-Arabism. Formed even before the establishment of the UN in October 1945, its founding members were Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. It aimed to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic, and social programs among its members and to mediate disputes among the member nations. Over a period of time, new members were admitted taking it to a total of 22 members currently, which includes the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which was admitted in 1976. In its 77 years, it has however, had a chequered history, especially on major issues/conflicts in the region, be it the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Israel-Palestine issue, the US-led Gulf war in Iraq in 2003 or even the ‘Arab Spring’ protests in 2011-12. Even Egypt, one of the founding members was expelled in 1979 after the Camp David peace treaty with Israel and its HQ shifted out of Cairo to Tunis. It was reinstated only in 1989.  Unity or consensus has generally been an area of concern and that is one major aspect for the forum to work on, if it wants to remain relevant in the future.
 
 

Changing discourse in the region

The Saudi-Iran peace deal has already resulted in intensifying engagement between the two countries as also the assurance of early re-opening of respective embassies in the coming months. It has also resulted in the promise to end the war in Yemen. Reconciliation with Syria too is underway and President Assad has been invited to the Arab League Summit. Following the Saudi-Iran peace deal, there seems to be a wave of reconciliation among the countries in the region. Egyptian Foreign Minister SamehShoukry visited Syria on 27th February, the first trip by a top Egyptian diplomat to Syria since its civil war began in 2011. Earlier in March, Egypt’s foreign minister held talks with his Turkish counterpart MevlutCavusoglu on the possibility of restoring ties during the first visit to Cairo by Turkey’s top diplomat since relations ruptured after the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013 in Egypt. Qatar and Bahrain too have announced restoration of diplomatic ties on 13th April, an important step towards unity within the region.

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Egypt and Iran are looking to mend ties. On 16th March, the spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, Naseer Kanaani, confirmed that Iran wants to improve relations with Egypt. Egypt and Saudi Arabia ties are also on the mend. On 3rd April, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made a surprise visit to Jeddah where he held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The two leaders “affirmed mutual concern for promoting common cooperation in all fields” as also “coordination and consultation” on regional and international issues. Qatar has already been integrated back into the region after the landmark GCC Summit at Al Ula in January 2021, ending Qatar’s diplomatic isolation of over three years from the GCC.

The depleting influence of the US in the region has opened up space for China and to some extent, Russia to offer support, economic as well as military, to countries in the region. China’s improved ties with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt are a case in point. The Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab countries including UAE, Bahrain Morocco and Sudan have opened up avenues of engagement which were earlier thought impossible. Ongoing talks, mostly back channel, between Saudi Arabia and Israel as well as the formation of I2U2 or the West Asian Quad comprising Israel, India, UAE and the US holds the possibility of tectonic shifts in the region in future. The recent meeting of the NSAs of India, the US, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Jeddah on 07th May where they discussed regional matters, security, ongoing developments and the feasibility of a rail link between the countries of the region as well as to South Asia via sea lanes, too is a vitally important development in the region.

What next for the Arab League

Recent developments in the region and the reality of interdependent global economies dictate that the forum has to evolve based on developing realities. The oil economies are past their prime and countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE have already undertaken measures to develop suitable alternate economic models. Arab League could be a forum for these countries to help other smaller countries in the forum too to develop modern economies.

The Arab League is also different from two other forums in the region, GCC and the OIC. While the OIC represents the Islamic world as a whole across continents and its discourse is largely limited to debating Islamic issues, the GCC which was established in 1981 after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, is restricted to six countries of the Arabian peninsula and is based solely on the countering any threat from Iran. Arab League can therefore look beyond such narrow prisms’ and work towards a larger economic and security integration of the region.

Among the countries in the region, Turkey and Iran are not part of the Arab League being ‘Non-Arab’ countries. They are however too large, significant and powerful to be ignored if the region is looking for an effective regional integration. Arab League has long outlived its original mandate based on Pan-Arabism and needs to look beyond this formative idea. One such out-of-the-box idea could be to initiate a process to slowly ease Iran and Turkey into the forum, initially maybe as an observer or a dialogue partner. The Saudi-Iran peace deal could be used as a trigger for it. Anyway, it is better to have Iran in the room and talking, than an Iran which is isolated and perceived as a threat. Remember, the ASEAN today is much bigger than originally the countries of South East Asia. Similarly, the SCO too has vastly enlarged its membership beyond Russia, Central Asian Republics and China. Arab League too could take a cue from these precedents.

This summit could also help initiate a regional process towards healing and economic revival of nations which have been devastated due to prolonged conflict like Yemen, Syria and Libya as well as Iraq. The summit also offers an opportunity to resolve the ongoing deadly conflict in Sudan, one of the members of the league. Solidarity with Palestine, a cause that the Palestinians fear is losing traction in the past few years due to reconciliation attempts with Israel too could be an important aspect to be debated.
 
India is already an Observer in the Arab League since December 2010 when the Indian Ambassador in Cairo was designated as India’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League with Observer Status. India and Arab League could use this re-vitalized forum to further cement ties with the region, where India already has deep and strategic ties with many major countries.

Conclusion

Arab League and the WANA region are at a point of inflection. Right initiatives and futuristic policies seeking regional integration rather than merely ‘Pan-Arabism’ could herald a new era in the region. With Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holy mosques taking over the presidency of the Arab League, there could be no better time for the Arab League to evolve anew.

Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.

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