Everything about Arab League totally explained
The
Arab League, officially called the
League of Arab States, is a regional organization of Arab States in
Southwest Asia and
North Africa. It was formed in Cairo on
March 22,
1945 with six members:
Egypt,
Iraq,
Transjordan (renamed
Jordan after 1946),
Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, and
Syria.
Yemen joined as a member on
May 5,
1945. The Arab League currently has 22 members (
see below: Members/dates).
The main goal of the League is to:
» "draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate 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 Arab League is involved in political, economic, cultural, and social programs designed to promote the interests of member states. The Arab League 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 reproduced intellectual works, and translated modern technical terminology for the use of member states. It encourages measures against crime and drug abuse and deals with labor issues (particularly among the emigrant Arab workforce).
The Arab League has also fostered cultural exchanges between member states, encouraged youth and sports programs, helped to advance the role of women in Arab societies, and promoted child welfare activities.
Each member has one vote on the League Council, decisions being binding only on those states that have voted for them. The aims of the League in 1945 were to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic, and social programs of its members, and to mediate disputes among them or between them and third parties. The signing on
April 13,
1950, of an agreement on Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation also committed the signatories to coordination of military defense measures.
The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative
At the
Beirut Summit on
28 March 2002 the Arab League adopted the
Arab Peace Initiative(External Link
), a Saudi-inspired peace plan for the
Arab-Israeli Conflict.
The Initiative offered full normalization of relations with
Israel in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the
Occupied Territories, including the
Golan Heights, the recognition of "an independent
Palestinian state with
East Jerusalem as its capital" in the
West Bank and
Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the
Palestinian refugees.
The Peace Initiative was again endorsed in 2007 in the
Riyadh Summit. In July 2007 the Arab League sent a mission, consisting of the
Jordanian and
Egyptian foreign ministers, to Israel to promote the Initiative, which has been welcomed by Israel, with reservations.
Economy
The Arab League is rich in resources, with enormous
oil and
natural gas resources; it also has great fertile lands in South of the
Sudan, usually referred to as the food basket of the
Arab World. The region's instability hasn't affected its tourism industry, that's considered the fastest growing industry in the region, with
Egypt,
UAE,
Lebanon,
Tunisia and
Jordan leading the way. Another industry that's growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications. Within less than a decade, local companies such as
Orascom and
Etisalat have managed to compete internationally.
Economic achievements initiated by the League amongst member states have been less impressive than those achieved by other smaller Arab organizations such as the GCC. However, several promising major economic projects are set to be completed soon. Among them are the
Arab Gas Pipeline, scheduled to be finished by the year 2010, which will connect Egyptian and Iraqi Gas to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, and also to Turkey (and, therefore, Europe), as well as a free trade Agreement (
GAFTA) stated for completion by the
January 1 2008, making 95% of all Arab products free of customs.
Economic development in the Arab League is very disparate, with a significant difference in wealth and economic conditions between the rich oil states of the
UAE,
Qatar,
Kuwait, and
Bahrain, on the one hand, and poor countries like the
Comoros,
Mauritania, and
Djibouti.
Arab Economic Funding is being made, the Arab League agreed to Aid Sudanese Region of
Darfur with 500 million dollars, and Egyptian and Libyan Companies are planning on building Several wells in the dry region.
List of member states by GDP
| Country |
GDP US$ (PPP) |
GDP US$ per capita (PPP) |
| align=left |
|
- |
| align=left |
|
20,700 |
| align=left |
|
5,400 |
| align=left |
|
8,100 |
| align=left |
|
55,200 |
| align=left |
|
55,300 |
| align=left |
|
3,800 |
| align=left |
|
2,500 |
| align=left |
|
4,500 |
| align=left |
|
13,100 |
| align=left |
|
7,500 |
| align=left |
|
75,900 |
| align=left |
|
19,100 |
| align=left |
|
2,400 |
| align=left |
|
4,700 |
| align=left |
|
34,700 |
| align=left |
|
10,400 |
| align=left |
|
1,800 |
| align=left |
|
600 |
| align=left |
|
1,000 |
| align=left |
|
600 |
Geography
Western Asia
North Africa and
East Africa. The area consists of large arid desert areas (for example,
The Sahara) but also has several very fertile lands in the
Nile Valley and the High
Atlas Mountains of North Africa and the
fertile crescent stretching from
Iraq to
Syria Lebanon and
Palestine. It also has deep forests in southern Arabia and south
Sudan. It has the longest river (
The Nile).
The area has witnessed the rise and fall of many ancient civilizations -
Ancient Egypt,
Assyria,
Babylon,
Phoenicia,
Carthage,
Kush, and
Nabateans all lived within its modern day borders.
Members / Dates
Egypt,
Iraq,
Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
Transjordan (
Jordan from 1950), and
Yemen.
There was
an increase in the membership of the League in the second half of the 20th century, with 15 Arab states and 3 observers being admitted.
Egypt's membership was suspended in 1979 after it signed a
peace treaty with Israel, and the League's headquarters were moved from Cairo, Egypt, to Tunis, Tunisia. In 1987 Arab countries restored diplomatic relations with Egypt, and Egypt was readmitted to the League in 1989 with the League's headquarters moving back to Cairo. In September 2006,
Venezuela was accepted as an observer, and India in 2007.
The current members and observers of the Arab League
and their dates of admission (observers in italics) are:
Israel isn't a member in spite of having 20% of
its citizens of Arab origin, and Arabic as an
official language. Neither is
Chad a member, although Arabic is in both
official and vernacular use there.
Status of Palestine
Mindful of their previous announcements in support of the Arabs of
Palestine the framers of the Pact were determined to include them within the League from its inauguration.
This was done by means of an annex that declared:
» "Even though Palestine wasn't able to control her own destiny, it was on the basis of the recognition of her independence that the Covenant of the League of Nations determined a system of government for her. Her existence and her independence among the nations can, therefore, no more be questioned
de jure than the independence of any of the other Arab States... Therefore, the States signatory to the Pact of the Arab League consider that in view of Palestine's special circumstances, the Council of the League should designate an Arab delegate from Palestine to participate in its work until this country enjoys actual independence."
At the Cairo Summit of 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people. The Palestinian National Council convened in East Jerusalem on 29 May 1964. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded during this meeting on 2 June 1964.
Government
The Charter of the Arab League(External Link) endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland while respecting the sovereignty of the individual member states.
The internal regulations of the Council of the League were agreed in October 1951 (External Link) as well as those of the committees (External Link). Those of the Secretary-General were agreed in May 1953. (External Link)
Since then, Arab order has based on this duality. Preservation of individual statehood derived its strengths from natural preferences of ruling elites to maintain their power and their independence in decision making. The fear of rich Arabs that poorer Arabs may come to share their wealth in the name of Arab nationalism, the feuds among Arab rulers and the influence of external powers that saw potential danger in Arab unity; all reinforced this duality.
see Government of the Arab League
Demographics of the Arab League
The Arab League is a culturally and ethnically diverse association of 22 member states, located in a highly populated region. As of January 1, 2007, the population of the Arab League was around 314,000,000 people. Many countries are expected to experience an increase in population over the coming decades, diminishing the slow economic developments being made in the league's developing countries.
The most populous member state is Egypt, with a population of 76,000,000 people, while the least populated is Djibouti, with close to 500,000 inhabitants. Most of the Gulf states have large populations of foreign labor; the UAE's Arab population counts for less than 20% of its overall population, with 50% from Southeast Asia. Some Gulf states import cheap Arab labor, mainly from Egypt, Yemen and Somalia.
the Arab League in General is an Urban population, due to the vast desert region, the population has been concentrated in the cities, where all the Trade and Industry is, the biggest Arab Cities are Cairo, followed by Baghdad, Khartoum, Damascus, Riyadh and Casablanca.
Comparisons with other organizations
The Arab League resembles the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, and the African Union, in that it has primarily political aims; one can regard each of these organizations as a regional version of the United Nations. However, its membership is based on culture rather than geographical location (which is the basis for membership of the other organizations cited above). In this respect the Arab League may bring to mind organizations such as the Latin Union.
The Arab League differs notably from some other regional organizations such as the European Union, in that it hasn't achieved any significant degree of regional integration and the organization itself has no direct relations with the citizens of its member states.
All Arab League members are also members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. In turn, the memberships of the smaller GCC and Arab Maghreb Union organizations are subsets of that of the Arab League.
The organization of the Arab League is based on principles that would support and promote a unified Arab Nationalism and a common position among Arabic states on various issues. It is less likely to resemble organizations such as the African Union, where unified nationalism is impossible due to the heterogeneity of its members.
Secretaries General
Arab League Summits
- Cairo: 13-17 Jan. 1964.
- Alexandria: 5-11 Sep. 1964.
- Casablanca: 13-17 Sep. 1965.
- Khartoum: 29 Aug. 1967.
- Rabat: 21-23 Dec. 1969.
- Cairo (first emergency summit): 21-27 Sep. 1970
- Algiers: 26-28 Nov.1973.
- Rabat: 29 Oct. 1974.
- Riyadh (2nd emergency summit): 17-28 Oct. 1976.
- Cairo: 25-26 Oct. 1976.
- Baghdad: 2-5 Nov.1978.
- Tunis: 20-22 Nov. 1979.
- Amman: 21-22 Nov. 1980.
- Fes: 6-9 Sep. 1982.
- Casablanca (3rd emergency summit): 7-9 Sep. 1985
- Amman (4th emergency summit): 8-12 Nov. 1987.
- Algiers (5th emergency summit): 7-9 Jun. 1988.
- Casablanca (6th emergency summit): 23-26 Jun. 1989.
- Baghdad (7th emergency summit): 28-30 Mar. 1990.
- Cairo (8th emergency summit): 9-10 Aug. 1990
- Cairo (9th emergency summit): 22-23 Jun. 1996.
- Cairo (10th emergency summit): 21-22 Oct. 2000.
- Amman: 27-28 Mar. 2001.
- Beirut: 27-28 Mar. 2002.
- Sharm el-Sheikh: 1 Mar. 2003.
- Tunis: 22-23 May. 2004.
- Algiers: 22-23 Mar. 2005.
- Khartoum: 28-30 Mar. 2006.
- Riyadh: 27-28 Mar. 2007.
- Damascus: 29-30 Mar. 2008.
Summit number 14 in Fes, Morocco occurred in two stages:
- On 25 November 1981: The meeting ended without agreeing on the document and Egypt not shared in it. It is considered the shortest summit, only lasting 5 hours.
- On 6-9 September 1982.
There are two summits in addition to those aforementioned, but they're not added to the system of Arab League summits:
Sub-Organization
Arab Air Carriers Organization
Arab Chess Federation
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD)
Arab Inter-parliamentary Union
Arab Monetary Fund
Arab Organization for Industrialization
Arab Technical Committees
Arabic industrial development and mining organization
Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies
General Arab Insurance Federation
General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries (General Union)
GAFTA
International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions
OAPEC
Pan Arab Games
Secretary General of the League of Arab States
The Council of the Arab League
Parliament of the Arab League
Specialized Ministerial Councils
General Secretariat Sub DepartmentsFurther Information
Get more info on 'Arab League'.
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