Arab League

The Arab League represents one of the most significant regional organizations in the time of globalization. The League of Arab States, as it is formally called, reflects the historical, cultural, economic, and political reality of the Arab world in which the Arabic language forms a unifying feature separating the Arab states from other regions and wider Islamic contexts. The league presents a region of complexities where long-standing conflicts and challenges hinder a regional operation within a global system. This essay provides a brief account of the history, aims, development, and reality of the Arab League and highlights the league's stand with regard to the main political events and changes within the Arab world.

The Arab League (al-Jāmi'at al-‘Arabiyya) is a regional organization of Arab states formed on March 22, 1945, in Cairo. The founding member-states were Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan, as of 1950), and Yemen. Countries that later joined are Algeria (1962), Bahrain (1971), Comoros (1993), Djibouti (1977), Kuwait (1961), Libya (1953), Mauritania (1973), Morocco (1958), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), Somalia (1974), Southern Yemen (1967), Sudan (1956), Tunisia (1958), and the United Arab Emirates (1971). The Palestine Liberation Organization was admitted in 1976 to regard Palestine as an independent member. The league is organized into council, special committees, and a permanent secretariat; the secretariat has its headquarters in Cairo.

The idea of the Arab League had been advocated since 1942 by the British, who wanted to rally Arab countries against the Axis powers. While the idea of Arab unity was one of the main aims and patriotic dreams in the Arab region, Egypt and other Arab countries wanted cooperation without the loss of independent state sovereignty. Thus, with an Egyptian initiative in 1943, the league was established in March 1945, just before the end of World War II. The pact of the league promoted a regional organization of sovereign states that was neither a union nor a federation (Articles 1 and 3).

The purpose of the league, as defined by Article 2 of its pact, is to “to draw closer the relations between member-states and coordinate their political activities with the aim of realizing a close collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries.” The pact also identified a number of categories in which the cooperation is deemed essential and required organized committees and individual representations (Article 4). These categories are economic and financial matters; communications, including railways, posts, and telegraphs; cultural matters; matters concerned with nationality and passports; social welfare; and health matters.

The pact also forbids the use of force to settle disputes among members (Article 5) and requires mediation to resolve disputes among members or between them and third parties. The signing on April 13, 1950, of an agreement on joint defense cooperation also committed the members to coordination on military defense measures.

Since its early days, the league has encouraged liberation movements and the independence of Arab states, regarding them as essential steps to achieving the ultimate goal of Arab unity. In 1945, the league supported Syria and Lebanon in gaining their independence from the French mandate and also called for an independent Libya; also, in 1961, the league supported Tunisia in its conflict with France. The league early announced opposition to the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine and demanded that Palestine as a whole be made independent, with the majority of its population Arab. Following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the league continued to maintain a boycott of Israel and of companies trading with Israel.

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