Arab countries should forge closer military and security ties, including by setting up a security task force to fight terrorism, according to an Egyptian proposal to be discussed at the Arab Summit meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh this weekend. The summit comes amid levels of regional turbulence not seen since the Arab League was founded 70 years ago this month to safeguard members' independence, national integrity and security. Turmoil has spread across the Arab world since a series of popular uprisings in 2011, and many Arab countries now face heightened terror threats that have underlined the need for closer regional cooperation. Ahead of the summit, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi told the Wall Street Journal that his proposal for an Arab counterterrorism force would be the centrepiece of the meeting. He warned that the new force is needed in order “to preserve what is left” of the stable Arab world. Al-Sisi has become increasingly vocal about the need for Arab military cooperation after jihadists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and in neighbouring Libya declared their allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terror group, which has seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. Al-Sisi has clearly stated the goals behind the proposal, being to form a unified force to fight terrorism in the region, but no firm details on the proposed alliance have been released, apparently to give other Arab governments a chance to discuss the plan. But the proposal has been the subject of a good deal of debate in Arab political circles, including the Arab League. One idea under discussion has been the “reactivation” of the League's Arab Defence and Economic Pact to confront jihadist terrorism and other security threats. Under the 1950 agreement that set up the pact, member states consider “any attack against one of them as an attack on all.” It allows them to use “all steps available, including the use of armed force, to repel aggression and restore security and peace.” Ideas to create a joint Arab force have been floated before, but a pan-Arab military alliance has always proved difficult to implement as security policies remain largely a national issue for Arab governments. The last time Arab leaders discussed such an idea was at an Arab Summit meeting in Riyadh in 2007, when Egypt proposed “a comprehensive concept for pan-Arab security.” The proposal aimed at creating a “mechanism” to resolve regional conflicts “without foreign intervention.” The proposal never came close to enjoying the support of a majority of Arab countries due in part to bickering over competition, sovereignty and national security and defence strategies. Things are not expected to be very different this time round, even though closer security cooperation is crucial to confront the terrorism challenge. Those who oppose the collective counterterrorism project offer several arguments. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Araby has downplayed the idea of reactivating the Arab Defence and Economic Pact, instead suggesting a comprehensive counterterrorism approach that includes the “renewal of religious discourse” and combating religious extremism in the media. “The Defence Pact was signed in 1950 when perceptions were different from the ones prevailing today. It was meant [to help] Arab countries facing a threat from another state, ostensibly Israel,” Al-Araby was quoted as saying in an interview with the Middle East News Agency. “Now, perceptions about wars and armies have changed. What is important today is that there is a unanimous resolution by the Arab states to confront terrorism,” he said. Other disagreements have emerged. Saudi Arabia, for example, is reportedly in favour of a broader defense alliance that would include non-Arab Sunni Muslim countries, such as Pakistan and Turkey, to help contain Iran and its regional Shia allies. These views underscore sharp differences between those in Arab governments who want the new security strategy to focus on fighting terrorism and those who give priority to efforts to confront Iran and its Shia allies. These differences are expected to be reflected in the leaders' discussions of the conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen, where they will be asked to take unified stands on how to confront the turmoil in these countries which threatens to spread to their neighbours. While Iraq, Syria and Yemen remain wracked by sectarian divisions and political uncertainty, a surge in violence and a brutal power struggle in Libya have raised the spectre of another civil war in the Arab world. But differences on priorities between the Arab governments are making a unified Arab stand on resolving these conflicts seem like mission impossible. One major difference is over the conflict in Syria. While several Arab countries, including Egypt, support a diplomatic solution to the four-year-old civil war, which implicitly means that the negotiations should involve Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Saudi Arabia leads a camp wanting to see Al-Assad step aside, by force if necessary. Similarly, the Arab leaders are unlikely to offer tangible solutions to the chaos in Iraq and Yemen, where the conflicts are increasingly turning into sectarian wars with wide-ranging consequences for the region. In Libya, the North African Arab countries have yet to agree on how to deal effectively with the terrorist groups that have taken advantage of the vacuum of power, threatening regional stability. With Iran and the world powers believed to be close to an agreement on Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran is expected to top the summit discussions. Here again the summit may be overshadowed by members' disputes over a potential deal with Iran, with Saudi Arabia and some of its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) expected to take the toughest stance vis-à-vis Iran. For the kingdom, ending the fear of Iran developing nuclear weapons will not be the end of troubles with Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Arab Sunni governments remain concerned about a larger bargain that could allow Iran to increase its regional influence at their expense. While a grand deal with Iran will have vast implications for the regional balance of power, options for the Arab countries to confront Iran seem limited without risking further sectarian divisions in the region. The Arab leaders are also expected to discuss the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process following this month's re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who disavowed the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his election campaign. Efforts to convince Israel to accept an Arab peace initiative, endorsed by the Arab Summit in 2001, and offer Israel recognition by all Arab League members in return for Israeli acceptance of a two-state solution have met with repeated Israeli rejection. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is expected to seek support from the summit for its move to ask for a new UN Security Council Resolution endorsing Palestinian statehood. Al-Araby told Al-Ahram at the weekend that such a resolution has a better chance of winning passage now that the Obama administration is conducting a “reassessment” of its Middle East policies. Among other main topics on the summit agenda will be the overhauling of the Arab League, including amending its founding document. Al-Araby has repeatedly blamed the League's failure on its member states, which he accuses of making its decisions and forging its policies without participation from the secretariat or civil society organisations. One of the main reforms suggested by Al-Araby is to amend the League's charter, which he has described as “unsuitable” to meet the challenges faced by the Arab world today. A committee formed to suggest reforms has presented its report to Al-Araby. Its conclusions, which have been kept secret, are expected to be reviewed first by Arab foreign ministers meeting today before they are submitted to the Arab Summit. However, Arab diplomats who spoke to the Weekly said that the recommendations to rewrite the League's charter, pressed by Al-Araby, may be deferred for further deliberations. But the recommendation to activate the Arab Peace and Security Council, which was established in 2007 to boost the League's work in the prevention, management and resolution of disputes, may be adopted by the summit, the diplomats said. Though this year's summit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Arab League, no events have been planned to celebrate this important milestone in modern Arab history. The lack of official celebrations probably reflects not only the grim mood in the Arab world, but also the low expectations from the summit. It also remains to be seen whether any of the Arab heads of state or government will skip the summit, aimed at forming a united front in the war against terror and other security threats to the Arab world. While the leaders of Algeria and Oman are expected to stay away for health reasons, chaos in several Arab countries may impact the level of participation. Among the most notable absentees will be Al-Assad, whose country's membership in the League was suspended after the 2011 uprising.
