The Arab League has played a pivotal role in shaping the Arab world’s economic, strategic, and security landscape since its early days. Among them, was the Treaty of Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation signed in 1950. This treaty represented an early recognition of the multi-dimensional nature of security, going beyond the security or military aspects. The treaty stipulated in its sixth article the formation of a joint defense council that could make decisions binding on all members by a two-thirds majority, which was then considered a qualitative shift that addresses the point regarding the requirement of unanimity in decisions.
On the economic front, significant strides were taken with the Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Among Arab States in 1953, followed by the Arab Economic Unity Agreement in 1957, and the establishment of the Arab Common Market in 1964. These moves were complemented by strategies for Joint Arab Economic Action and the Charter of the National Economic Action, leading to the draft joint development contract and the Unified Agreement for the Investment of Arab Capital in the Arab States at the Amman Summit in Jordan in 1980.
The first Arab League summit of leaders and heads of state was held in 1964 in Cairo, against the backdrop of the Israeli entity’s diversion of the Jordan River. Since then, a decision was made to hold the summits annually in response to the Arab’s repeated demand for its growing foundational, significant, and multi-dimensional role within the Arab system.
Naturally, the Arab League Charter facilitates close cooperation among member states, allowing for the creation of bilateral agreements and the possibility of amending the charter with the approval of two-thirds of the member states. It also paved the way for the establishment of an Arab Court of Justice, alongside frameworks to enhance cooperation in economic, cultural, social, and health affairs, and regulate relations with international organizations to uphold global peace and security.
The Summit-level Arab League Council is the highest authority in the League, convening annually at the leader level, with emergency sessions as needed. Additionally, the Council meets biannually at the ministerial level in March and September, along with special emergency sessions. A preparatory session is also held annually in preparation for the regular Arab League Summit, not to mention, the Arab League at the level of permanent representatives.
The League Council’s responsibilities, as outlined in Article Three of the Charter, include ensuring the implementation of agreements between member states in various fields, addressing actual or potential aggression against any member state, resolving disputes through peaceful means like mediation and arbitration, and defining cooperation methods with international bodies to maintain international peace and security.
The Arab Economic and Social Council meets in two sessions at the senior official and ministerial levels, participating in the preparatory sessions for Arab summits and the Economic and Social sessions. Its tasks include approving the establishment of specialized Arab organizations and ensuring existing organizations fulfill their charter-defined roles in accordance with its specified provisions. The Council has two economic and social committees, which coordinate their efforts with specialized ministerial councils, such as the Arab Interior Ministers Council, the Council of Arab Ministers for Health, and the Council of Arab Ministers of Communications and Information.
Over the decades, the Arab League has actively contributed to developing educational curricula, promoting women’s roles in society, enhancing child care, encouraging youth and sports programs, preserving Arab cultural heritage, and fostering cultural exchanges among member states. It has launched literacy campaigns to eradicate illiteracy, translated modern technical terms for use within member states, and advocated for measures to combat crime and drug abuse, and addressed labor issues, especially among the Arab diaspora.
Throughout its long history, the Arab League has played an important and pivotal role amid a difficult and thorny environment in supporting the independence of member states, providing political support to aspiring countries, assisting Arab countries in their struggle against colonialism, advancing scientific, economic and social progress, planning development prospects, and coordinating positions to confront enormous challenges from the inside and out.
The Arab League faced numerous challenges, including major regional events like the Tripartite Aggression on Egypt in 1956, the Arab-Israeli war in 1967, the October War in 1973, the Lebanese Civil War, normalization processes with Israel, the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and intermittent periods of intra-Arab disputes.
Despite these difficult circumstances, the Arab League has continually expanded its roles and fostered international cooperation to benefit from their industrial, technical, and commercial expertise through forums like the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum, and signed cooperation agreements with numerous international and regional organizations. It has also hosted joint summits, such as the EU-Arab World Summit, the Arab-African Summit, and the Arab-South American Summit, aiming to deepen international cooperation at the highest levels.
Source: Qatar News Agency