Arab summits lose their impact

The 18th Arab summit was held in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum last week under the shadow of many political and international changes. It's a time of uncertainty and political tension in the Arab world. Nine top Arab leaders did not attend it.

Ever since the first summit was held in Cairo in 1964, Arab summits have not come out with any firm and pragmatic decisions. Worse, they have failed to arrive at a unified Arab stand concerning issues affecting the Arabs. The summits have also failed to bring closer all Arabs and their various governments. In fact, the Arab summits have unconscientiously caused more harm to their issues of discord.

As usual, not much was expected from the Khartoum summit. This is mainly because Arab leaders do not take into consideration the interests of their people while attending these summits. Moreover, Arab countries fail to take into account the most important factor that unifies nations the economic link. Unfortunately, the Arab summits have an unchanged agenda wherein the status of the common Arab man is totally neglected.

Like the previous summits, the United States tried its best to persuade Arab leaders from taking decisions against American interests. Prior to the summit, the US had asked friendly Arab leaders to stay away from it as Washington felt that their presence could be construed as a show of support for the Sudanese government, which is under international pressure to allow a UN-peacekeeping force in the war-torn western region of Darfur.

Gain support

Earlier, the US even tried to influence Arab leaders against holding the summit in Khartoum and wanted it to be moved to some other Arab capital. Moreover, by exerting pressure on the Arab leaders attending the summit, the US was trying to gain support for its broader Middle East project.

By and large, over the years, the Arab summits have become inefficient. They list on their agenda as many issues as they can, knowing well that they would not be able to solve a single one of them since they don't hold the keys to the solution. As such there was no element of surprise in the final communique of the Khartoum summit it was a mere repetition of the traditional policy statement of the previous summits.

As expected, last week's summit did not rise to the expectations and demands of the Arab people.

The Arab world is now facing new challenges, the most prominent of which is the Iraqi crisis. And, if the security situation deteriorates, this will engulf the entire region in a state of instability and threaten its future.

Among other challenges confronting the Arabs are the repercussions of the cold war between Iran and the US over their interests in the Middle East. Iran's role in the region has become larger and its military ambitions, especially in the field of nuclear power, instill fear among the Arab countries.

The growing US pressure on Arab countries to conduct democratic reforms is another challenge. The deteriorated pan-Arab relations following the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and the repercussions of the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri also pose grave problems to the Arabs.

The Arabs are also facing the possibility that the Darfur conflict will become internationalised. Signs of change in the US policy towards Tehran at the expense of Arab interests is another problem facing the Arab states.

Heavy burden

The delay in finding a solution to the Palestinian cause due to the negative attitude of western countries, particularly the US, after the landslide victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections, adds to the heavy burden of the Arab world.

Israel's unilateral measures including the demarcation of its borders without any consideration for the rights of the Palestinian people or the international public opinion, is also a grave issue.

Most decisions and recommendations of Arab summits do not rise to the seriousness of these issues due to the lack of vision and understanding of the global political facts. Although all these issues are important and sensitive, the Iraq issue is the most vital for the future of the Arab world.

There is a general consensus that the Arabs let their Iraqi brethren down. The Iraqis in turn have lost their confidence in the Arab nations surrounding their country.

As such Iraq is heading in a new direction and away from its traditional Arab identity. Hence it is time for all Arab countries to change their attitude towards Iraq and instill confidence in the Iraqis.

The Arabs, who shunned their responsibility with regards to Iraq by refusing to deal with any government under the US occupation, need to reconsider their policy. They should understand that by taking the wrong decisions, they are letting the door open for other powers and countries to convert Iraq into their sole playing field. They have also forgotten that nothing would change the new equation imposed on Iraq by the US. As such it requires them to support the Iraqis and help them to rebuild their country.

This is necessary to bring Iraq back into the fold of the Arab world.

Dr Mohammad Akif Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.