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Arab League
The League of Arab States is one of the very first regional organizations which was formed soon after World War 2 . It can be argued that in relation to particular historical events, the League maybe regarded as the first most important step in the dual process of Arab liberation and unification since the 1915 Arab Revolt . The establishment of the United Nations followed a while later after the official establishment of the League on March 22 1945 . The League began as a British plan to support against the Axis powers in 1942, and has since then developed into the principal international body which represents Islamic states in the Middle East . It was the Egyptian government that formally proposed this idea in 1943. Many Arab states including Egypt feared however, the potential loss of self-rule that could result from a total union, which led many to push for an organization that would result in a closer cooperation without the previously mentioned losses . It was argued at the time, that the League was essentially a movement that encompassed a combination of ideas, on one hand seeking the liberation of Arab territories and states from foreign external domination, and on the other seeking unification on all levels within the Arab domain .
The origins of the League can be traced back to 1944 when representatives from Transjordan (now Syria), Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt adopted the Alexandria Protocol .This Protocol was driven firstly, by the desire to unite Arab states in particular Syria and Transjordan, secondly, to react to Jewish presence, and thirdly, to resist colonial forces. It was this protocol that eventually led to the establishment of the League of Arab States a year late . It was this original Charter that was responsible for the establishment of regional organization of sovereign states that was neither a federation nor a union of independent states .
There was heated debate during the Alexandria Conference about what form Arab unity should take . State representatives from Syria and Transjordan advocated that the League take a very advanced form of union that would resemble a confederate structure while on the other hand representatives from Saudi Arabia were not so keen on such an idea . With the assistance of Egyptian delegates, a compromise was reached between the two sides. In the end, the protocol stated that future decisions that would be made by the organisation would only be binding for those that would have accepted them . The protocol also made possible the creation of a special sub-committee that would reflect on the future organization that was to be established among the Arab States . The change of governments for both Egypt and Lebanon led the two states to adopt a stronger stance against any form of organization that would threaten their national sovereignty . This could be concluded from the statement made by the Lebanese foreign minister that they did not desire for the Arab League to become a “state above the states or a federation” . As a result, the sub-committee and the document that was drafted to serve as the Pact of the League of Arab States greatly undermined the prospects for an empowered supranational body. The pact was even seen by many as a step back from what was initially proposed in the Alexandria Protocol .
Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan and Yemen were the initial seven members of the League who all signed up to the Pact of the Arab League on March 22 1945 . Since then numerous countries have joined the League, and the current total has risen to 22 member states. These 22 members include: Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Somalia, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania and Yemen .
Mandate
The League of Arab States, which currently stands at a membership of 22 states of mostly Arab speaking countries. The idea of the various Arabian countries united under a single “Arab” banner, an “Arab League” was proposed. The League was created in order to strengthen Arab relations for the most part, that is, the intention of creating The League of Arab States aims to fortify relations among member states, coordinate their policies and direct them towards a common good. According to the officially documented Charter of The League of Arab States, the purpose of the league is to “draw closer the relations between member states and co-ordinate their political activities with the aim of realising 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.” (League of Arab States Charter, Article 2; Avalon law, Yale) In addition to this, the mandate includes a certain amount of collaboration between member states on the following issues: .” 1) Economic and financial matters, including trade, customs, currency, agriculture and industry; 2) Communications, including railways, roads, aviation, navigation, and posts and telegraphs; (3) Cultural matters; (4) Matters connected with nationality, passports, visas, execution of judgments and extradition; (5) Social welfare matters; (6) Health matters. Within further divisions of the Organisation, The League of Arab States will be mostly run by the Council which will have the responsibility of ensuring that agreed upon aims be followed through with. In addition to this, the council will also have the function of determining the means to which the League of Arab States will be associating with other International Organisations and players in the international system. This includes the association with The League to collaborate with other Organisations which in the future may guarantee peace and security in the Arab region.
On the issue of whether or not the League of Arab States has come to achiever the objectives set out in their mandate, it appears that this has not been entirely effective. This may be due to the fact that decisions taken up by the League on any of the given goals, is only binding to the member states which voted for the respective resolution. Therefore, despite all the attempts and efforts by the Arab League, it shows its most efficacy in smaller areas such as shaping school curriculums and translating modern technologies and has done exceptionally well in creating a regional telecommunications union.
Arab league: The Organisational set up.
The Arab league is composed of various organs for which some are mentioned in the charter. The chief organ of the organisation is the league Council that is made up of head of states and heads of governments from member states. The key purpose of the council is to monitor the execution plans and programs of the organisation. In addition, the council also has the powers to amend the charter and to address emerging contemporary matters. It also deals with settling disputes among member states on serious cases that might lead to war. Under article 2 the parties to the dispute should request mediation from the council. The council meets twice a year and each member state has one vote. Decision-making in the council is unanimity and thus all member states are binded by the decision. Two-thirds majority is required for resolutions on administrative and financial resolutions to be binding. The General Secretariat is the administrative body of the league and its headquarters are located in Cairo. It consists of a secretary-general and assistant secretaries. The secretary general is an administrative officer of the organisation, who is reponsible for the daily operation of the league. He is appointed by two-thirds majority of the council. The incumbent secretary-general is Nabil Elaraby who succeded Amr Moussa in May 2011. The main duty of the secretary general as specified in the charter is to oversee the secretariat to ensure checks and balances within the league. The secretary-general can also attend meetings of the council. The Technical Committees are specialised committees of the league that are composed of permanent specialised ministerial councils that deal with specific issues. The establishment of special committees is mentioned in the Pact of the League of Arab States and are responsible for assisting members with technical matters related to the Arab cooperation. These include the Political and Social committees, the Legal Committee and a permanent Committee for Administrative and Financial Affairs. The Arab Summit Conferences is also another organ of the league but it is not mentioned in the charter. The summit conferences only takes places if there is any issue to address and the conferences are attended by the heads of states and governments of member states. Resolutions from the conferences are often used as platforms and roadmap for which the other bodies operate. The Ministerial Councils is also another body of the league that is responsible for coordinating policies amongst member states. The ministerial councils hold regular meetings and initiate policies to the Council, and each minister from member government sits on the appropriate ministerial council. However, there is a blurred distinction between the summit and the ministerial council.
ARAB MONETARY FUND LOANS The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is the principle organ of the Arab league in dealing with the leagues monetary movements. The AMF was started in 1977 and all of the leagues member states are currently a part of it. One of the main aims of the fund is to promote trade amongst league member states, working towards a central unified Arab currency as well as promoting the development of member state financial markets . One of the services that are provided by the league is the giving of loans to member states for various reasons. There are five types of loans that are offered by the AMF, these being; the automatic loan, the ordinary loan, the extended loan, the compensatory loan and lastly the Structural Adjustment Facility (SAF) loans . Automatic loans are granted to a member state that has outstanding payments of loans. It is used to finance the outstanding loan and the state is not required to have any reform to its financial sector when receiving it. The amount of money that is given in this loan is proportional to the contribution money that is given to the AMF. A country may therefore only receive a loan that is up to 75% to what the state contributes towards the AMF. This loan is then payable according to the other four loans depending on which one the state has outstanding at the time . An ordinary loan is granted by the AMF to a member state that needs financing that is over 75% of their contributions. This loan can be given as an amount that is 100% proportional to the particular states contributions towards the AMF. When receiving this loan the state must agree to a financial maintenance program that last more than 12 months. This loan is payable back to the AMF in instalments over five years with the first three and a half years requiring no instalments . The extended loan is given to a member state whose outstanding loan payments are jeopardising its economy. The state receives up to 175%, directly proportional to its contributions, in funds. The states must then implement a financial maintenance program that lasts longer than 24 months. The extended loan is payable back to in instalments over seven years with the first 42 months being a grace period . The compensatory loan is given to member states that experience unexpected trouble in loan repayments due to a bad domestic market in that particular year. The state receives 50% in funding that is directly proportional to the contributions made towards the AMF. This loan is repayable in four years with the first year and a half being the grace period . The SAF loan is fairly new and was only introduced as part of the AMF in 1998. This loan is given to member states as a way of subsidising financial sector reforms within states. Its main focus is encouraging the maximum use of resources within the state and enhancing economic stability. The funds given are up to 175%, directly proportional to contributions and repayable within four years of receiving them . As from 2004 the AMF has 131 loans that were given out to its member states, all of these amounting to AAD 1037.2 million . The AMF itself however also has outstanding loans and in 2004 these amounted to AAD 280 million .
The Voting Procedure.
Article III of the League of Arab States endorses that;
“…each state shall have a single vote, irrespective of the number of its representatives.”
It can thus be arguably posited that by wielding a single vote, the member states in the League of Arab States are regarded to be all equal. Moreover, if a decision/resolution is passed through a unanimous vote, that decision will be binding to all the member states. However, if a resolution is passed by virtue of a majority, it is only binding on those members who have consented to it.
Additionally, resolutions that concern the League’s finances and administrative work need only be passed by two thirds of the members and they will be binding to all. Similarly, the secretary General is appointed by a two thirds majority. Moreover, if the League’s Council is debating and trying to resolve a dispute between two or more of its member states, the aggressor state is not allowed to vote on the resolution proceedings. Ultimately Article V posit that,
“…the Council shall by unanimous decision determine the measures necessary to repulse the aggression.”
In sum, the League of Arab States’ Charter does not give special concessions such a veto power or more voting powers to a selected few states. Instead all the member states possess one equal vote regardless of how influential or powerful their contributions to the organization. Such rules of voting can be problematic in the long run however, it can arguably be posited that such voting rules are a true epitome of what is embedded in democracy and sovereignty – that is the notion of equality.
Weaknesses of the League.
However, though these above mentioned bodies provide significant functioning and operational capabilities to the league, the organisation still lacks enough credibility since its establishment. Major gaps especially around the issue of peacemaking and conflict resolution aggregated by resource constraints, disunity and reluctance to call for the leagues’ intervention among members limit the efficiency of the league. Lack of enforcement mechanisms such as a judicial court in contrast to the AU and EU could be argued renders the institution ineffective. Lack of detailed laws, rules and clarity of obligations are also to blame. The organs of the league are also under-funded and less-equipped to effectively address Arab cooperation.
THE ARAB LEAGUE AND THE AU RELATIONS There are nine Arab League members that are also members of the African Union: Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia. In addition to the Afro-Arab Summit and the Joint Council of Ministers the two organisations intend to create five joint bodies that will ensure the realisation of Afro-Arab Cooperation as defined in their Declaration and Programme of Action on Afro-Arab Co-operation. These bodies will include the Joint Summit Conference and Council of Ministers. The Summit shall be held every three years and the Council of Ministers every eight months. There will also be a Standing Commission made up of twenty four Ministers, twelve from the AU and twelve from the Arab League of States and their Representatives. There will be one Chairperson per group where the two Chairpersons shall co-chair the Standing Commission. Another issue of the Standing Commission are the meetings and venues. The Standing Commission shall meet in Ordinary Session twice every year alternating the Headquarters of the two Organizations unless in case of an invitation extended by a member state. By agreement of the two Chairpersons, an extra-ordinary session of the Commission shall be convened when necessary. The dates and duration of such meetings shall be fixed after consultation between the Chairpersons and the Secretaries-General of the two Organizations. The Standing Commission is entrusted with the implementation of Afro-Arab Co-operation and shall follow up its development across various fields. It examines and directs co-operation towards the political, cultural, social, technological and economic fields . The third body is of the Working Groups and Specialized Panels that shall be established in accordance with the Declaration and Programme of Action on Afro-Arab Co-operation as the need arises in fields such as Trade, Mining and Industry, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Energy and Water Resources, Transport, Communication and Telecommunications, Financial Co-operation, Educational, Social, Cultural and Information, Scientific and Technical Co-operation. Each Working Group shall be composed of an equal number of experts and specialists from both sides and each side shall ensure the continuity of the terms of office of the members of the Group. Each of the two sides shall appoint a Chairperson for each Working Group and shall inform the Chairman of the other side of its choice and each Working Group may consult specialists from the public or private sector when necessary. The fourth body is the Coordinating Committee responsible for coordinating the work of the various working groups under the authority of the Standing Commission, on the one hand, and, on the other, for ensuring the implementation of decisions taken. Within the limits of these powers, the Coordinating Committee shall deal exclusively with matters of a practical and administrative nature requiring urgent decisions. The other body will be an Afro-Arab Court or Commission of Conciliation and Arbitration that will be charged with the legal interpretation of texts governing Afro-Arab Co-operation and any disputes that may arise. The status and composition of such an Institution shall be laid down by a meeting of experts to be convened under the support of the AU and the Arab League. Under the Means of Action, a special Fund shall be established for the running of the executive bodies of Afro-Arab Co-operation. This Fund shall be financed on a fifty percent contribution from each of the two Organizations’ regular budgets and also individual and voluntary contributions are welcomed. The budget of the Special Fund shall be approved by the Standing Commission and shall be administered by the Secretaries-General of the African Union and the League of Arab States under the control and responsibility of the Coordinating Committee which will regularly report to the Standing Commission. The Arab League and African Union took dramatically different actions with regards to the rebellion in Libya. The Arab League was quick to legitimize the rebels and give them their support and aid, while the African Union partly supported Gaddafi. With the death of colonel Gaddaffi the African-Arab relationship has turned an interesting page in their history of which was previously characterized by turmoil and hostility at some point resulting from Gaddaffi’s negative relationship with the Arab League and his distinctive role that he played in the African Union as a major supporter of African states. Since he walked out of Arab League meetings and lashed at the Arabs with scathing criticism, there was nowhere for the colonel to resort to in order to exercise his pursuit of leadership other than Africa. With the new Transitional Council in Libya, this has got some implications for the African-Arab relations. This might have a negative impact to the stumbling economy of African states as well as the survival of many regimes in the region that have long depended on Libyan funds and support for the well-being of the Union. Since Libya had subsidized the African Union with nearly 15% of its income, and the new regime seem to be less likely to be generous to an organization that was not supportive of their efforts to topple Gaddafi, and given that the African Union is full of free-riders that do not pay their due, it is not hard to see that the African Union will be severely affected. With lack of financial support and political assistance, there are fewer incentives for African states and the Union as a whole to quickly normalize the Transnational Council and building relations with the Arab League. All these issues are yet to unfold the cooperation ground of the African-Arab cooperation.
The issue of Syria The Arab League suspended Syria from the Organisation in November 2011 for the increasing violence that threatened the stability of the region. The Summit held in Iraq to find a UN-backed resolution for Syria marked the first time Iraq have hosted an Arab League Summit since the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in 1990. The Arab states have changed their initial position which demanded that Assad step down and they had agreed on a draft resolution in Syria which calls for action on an UN-backed peace plan formulated by Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary General. The Arab League’s proposed plan to transfer power from Bashir Assad to a caretaker government and its lobbying for the adoption by the UN Security Council and its previous decision to back NATO’s intervention against Libya has overturned the long held assumptions political stagnation, over concern about sovereignty and the strength of the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. The possible explanations proposed for this shift concerns matters of religious identities and regional tensions between Shia Iran and the Sunni Member States, and the emergence a Shiite Crescent led by Tehran the prospective Sunni government replacing the Assad’s pro-Iranian regime. The geopolitical distribution of power is also another possible explanation fuelled by the rewarding with adoration of the Arab public of Turkey for the strong stance taken in support of the region’s protesters. The turn against Syria also arise from member states’ increased sensitivity to liberal norms characterised by the discourse of human rights, democratisation and solidarity with the oppressed. This claim can be supported by the launch of the satellite television channel Aljazeera, the first Arab mainstream media outlet to seriously engage with subjects such as human rights, political reform and electoral democracy.
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