Strong defence coordination between the GCC states and Egypt is a new dimension for their emerging alliance. Both Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz agreed that there is an important opportunity to establish a pan-Arab army that will allow the participating states to protect themselves against all enemies.
The leaders were specific when they said that they do not intend to attack anyone, and emphasised that they envisage the new force “protecting their security and defending their nations”. This ridicules any speculation that this new force would seek to take part in the coalition supporting the Iraqi government against Daesh or that it might form part of some new attempt to bring calm to Syria. The member states that are talking of building this defensive force may also be members of the coalition against Daesh, or have positions on the war in Syria, but that does not mean that this new force would be used in those contexts.
At a time when there is unprecedented violence in the region it makes sense for any state to seek to prepare against the worst. There is ongoing fighting in Iraq between Daesh, government-backed militias, Kurdish forces and the Iraqi army; there is a multi-sided civil war in Syria as the government fights a variety of extremist groups and the less effective Free Syrian Army; there is also steady disintegration in Yemen as the Al Houthis have captured north Yemen; and Libya remains split between two rough coalitions divided along Islamist and secular lines.
This violence is on the borders of the Egypt and the GCC states, and could spill over with very dangerous consequences as the chaos spreads and those with malignant ideas take advantage of the confusion to promote their narrow ideologies. It is important that as the Arab alliance seeks to support the rebuilding of stable governance in the Arab nation states, they are not engulfed in the fighting themselves. Many greedy eyes are watching both the GCC and Egypt and would love to take advantage if they fell into chaos. This is why the new defensive Arab army makes a lot of sense.
