League of Arab States/جامعة الدول العربية
The Charter of the
Arab League 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 and the committees were agreed in October 1951. Those of the Secretariat-General were agreed in May
1953.
Since then, governance of the Arab League has been based on the duality of supra-national institutions and the sovereignty of the member states.
Preservation of individual statehood derived its strengths from the natural preference of ruling elites to maintain their power and independence in decision making. Moreover, the fear of the richer that the poorer may share their wealth in the name of
Arab nationalism, the feuds among Arab rulers, and the influence of external powers that might oppose
Arab unity can be seen as obstacles towards a deeper integration of the league.
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 has not affected its tourism industry, that is considered the fastest growing industry in the region, with
Egypt,
UAE,
Algeria,
Tunisia, and
Jordan leading the way. Another industry that is 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
Gulf Cooperation Council (
GCC). However, several promising major economic projects are set to be completed soon.Among them is the
Arab Gas Pipeline, scheduled to be accomplished in 2010y. It will transport
Egyptian and
Iraqi gas to Jordan,
Syria,
Lebanon, and
Turkey. The
Greater Arab Free Trade Area (
GAFTA), planned to come into effect on
January 1, 2008, will render 95% of all Arab products free of customs.
Economic development in the Arab League is very disparate.
Significant difference in wealth and economic conditions exist between the rich oil states of UAE,
Qatar,
Kuwait, and Algeria on the one hand, and poor countries like the
Comoros,
Mauritania, and
Djibouti on the other hand. Arab economic funding is under development. As an example, the Arab League agreed to support the
Sudanese region of
Darfur with
500 million dollars, and Egyptian and
Libyan companies are planning to build several wells in this dry area.
The Arab League currently has 22 members: Kuwait,
Palestine,Qatar,Jordan,
United Arab Emirates, Lebanon,
Bahrain,
Libya,SaudiArabia,
Oman,Syria,Tunisia,Egypt,Djibouti,Algeria,Sudan,Comoros,
Yemen,
Morocco,Mauritania,
Iraq,
Somalia,
and four observers:Four countries are observer states—a status that entitles them to express their opinion and give advice but denies them voting rights. These are
Eritrea, where
Arabic is one of the official languages, as well as
Brazil and
Venezuela, which have large and influential Arab communities.
India is another observer to the Arab League.