Middle East Information Resource
Political Entities - League of Arab States
The Arab League is the popular name for the League of Arab States (jami`at al-duwal al arabiyya). In 1944 a meeting in Alexandria adopted protocols for the Arab League, and it was founded in Cairo in 1945 by Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan, and Yemen. Other members joined later: Algeria in 1962; Bahrain 1971; Comoros 1993; Djibouti 1977; Kuwait 1961; Libya 1953; Mauritania 1973; Morocco 1958; Oman and Qatar 1971; Somalia 1974; Southern Yemen 1967 and united Yemen 1990; Sudan 1956; Tunisia 1958; and the United Arab Emirates 1971. A representative of Palestinian Arabs, although he did not sign the charter because he represented no recognized government, was given full status and a vote in the Arab League. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was granted full membership in 1976. Egypt`s membership was suspended in 1979 after it signed a peace treaty with Israel; the league`s headquarters was moved from Cairo to Tunis. Egypt was readmitted in 1989 and the league`s headquarters was moved back to Cairo.
The League is organized into a council, special committees, and a permanent secretariat. The constitution of the league provides for coordination amongst the signatory nations on education, finance, law, trade, and foreign policy, and it forbids the use of force to settle disputes between members. A joint defense treaty was signed in 1950. The Arab League has attempted to coordinate Arab economic life; efforts toward this aim include the Arab Telecommunications Union, 1953; the Arab Postal Union, 1954; and the Arab Development Bank, 1959, later known as the Arab Financial Organization. The Arab Common Market was established in 1965 and is open to all Arab League members. The common market agreement provides for the eventual abolition of customs duties on natural resources and agricultural products, free movement of capital and labor among member countries, and coordination of economic development.
Arab unity has long been an dream of the Arab World. The Hashemite regimes of Transjordan and Iraq envisioned it under their rule. Syria and Lebanon imagined this unity under their guidance, and Egypt and others similarly objected to Hashemite ambitions. In 1942 the British also developed an interest in Arab unity with a view to cultivating a united Arabia as an ally against Germany in World War II. The Egyptians proposed the Arab League in 1943. Egypt and some of the other Arab states wanted closer cooperation without the loss of soverignty implied by union or federation. They also wanted their territories acknowledged throughout the Arab world. It emphasized the need for cooperation among the member states in order to safeguard their sovereignty and interests from one another as well from Western powers. For many years, closer political unity among members was hampered by a division between pro-Western member countries and neutralist or pro-Soviet ones. More recently, division has been between militant Islamic fundamentalists and moderates. The League ultimately supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) but was divided over the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. In 1993 the League condemned all forms of terrorism.
In 1945, the league supported Syria and Lebanon in their disputes with France and demanded an independent Libya; in 1961, it supported Tunisia in a conflict with France. When the state of Israel was created in 1948, the league countries jointly attacked it, but Israel resisted successfully. The league continued to maintain a boycott of Israel. The summit conferences of 1964-65 established a joint Arab military command, which proved unsuccessful in implementing a united strategy for the liberation of Palestine. In the war of 1967 some Arab states found it necessary to be more pragmatic and less ideological if their captured territiry was to be restored. Egypt`s membership was suspended from 1979 to 1989 because of its treaty with Israel, and the League`s headquarters were moved to Tunis. In 1988, the league endorsed the PLO`s plan for a negotiated settlement with Israel, and in 1991 Cairo once again became its headquarters.
The League expressed Arab unity largely in attempting to prevent the Jews from creating a Jewish state. The members eventually formed a joint defense council, an economic council, and a permanent military command. The League is involved in political, economic, cultural, and social programs designed to promote the interests of member states. It has served as a forum for member states to coordinate their policy positions and deliberate on matters of common concern, settling some Arab disputes and limiting conflicts such as the Lebanese civil wars of 1958. The Arab League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of almost all landmark documents promoting economic integration among member states, such as the creation of the Joint Arab Economic Action Charter, which set out the principles for economic activities of the league. It has played an important role in shaping school curricula, and preserving manuscripts and Arab cultural heritage. The Arab League has launched literacy campaigns, and translated modern technical material. It opposes crime and drug abuse and deals with labor issues.
The Arab League has achieved some important agreements. in 1946 a Cultural Treaty was signed and in 1950 members signed a Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty. In 1953 the Economic and Social Council was formed. In 1958 the United Nations recognized the Arab League as the UN`s Organisation for Education, Science and Culture in the Arab Region. At the first League summit in January 1964 in Cairo, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO) was formed. In 1976 the Arab League authorized an Arab peacekeeping force in Lebanon. In 1987 it unanimously supported Iraq in its dispute with Iran.
In May 1990 the Arab League criticized Western efforts to prevent Iraq from developing advanced weapons, but in August, at an emergency summit, 12 out of 20 states present condemned Iraq`s invasion of Kuwait. In 1994 the League condemned the Gulf Cooperation Council decision to end its secondary and tertiary trade embargo against Israel and insisted that the embargo could only be lifted by the League`s council. In 1996, the Arab League Council determined that the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers be shared Iraq, Syria and Turkey. In 1998, the Arab League denounced bomb attacks against US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and US missile strikes against Afghanistan and Sudan.
On April 8, 2002 an Arab League think tank, The Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow Up (ZCCF) hosted guest speaker, Theirry Meyssan, who promoted the theory that the US military and Israel were behind the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11.