The Arabs don't have what it takes to reach a union, and Israel's role in dividing the Arabs doesn't help, writes Hassan Nafaa* The Arab summit meeting in Kuwait was supposed to be a significant step towards unity. This is why it was intended to be strictly economic. People say that since politics is so messy, unity should be sought the easy way; namely, through the economy. After all, economic gains are quantifiable, whereas political gains are anybody's guess. Preparations for the summit began over a year ago when the Arab League asked veteran diplomat Mervat Al-Tilawi to act as a general coordinator for the summit. Al-Tilawi had over a year to put material together and present it to the summit in an easy way, so as to help everyone reach the right decisions. Also, business and civil society institutions were involved in preparing for the summit, which helped bring into the picture a varied spectrum of experience and knowledge. An experienced Egyptian diplomat with a track record of handling Arab and international problems, Al-Tilawi was an assistant to the UN secretary- general and a managing director of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which means that she's one of the few who can tell you what's best for our region. The papers submitted to the conference underlined the contradictions inherent in our part of the world. The Arab world is immensely rich (60 per cent of oil reserves worldwide), expansive (10 per cent of the land mass of the world) and populous (five per cent of the world's population). It is also poor (one in four Arabs live under the poverty line), undereducated (two in five Arabs are illiterate) and unattractive for investors (less than five per cent of international investment comes to the region). And the Arabs don't seem to need one another: inter-Arab trade is less than 10-12 per cent of the region's trade, whereas the equivalent ration in the EU is 60 per cent. In my opinion, the problem is not that we have no foundation for cooperation, but that we don't know how or where to start. And worse, we don't seem to stay the course. For the past 60 years or so, the Arab world has vacillated between two modes: the urge for immediate unity and the inability to work together. I have taken part in preparing for the summit. During that time, I heard several people saying that the best way to promote inter-Arab integration is in separating economy from politics. I heard experts saying that economy is uniting whereas politics is divisive. And I heard others say that the success of the EU is a case in point. I happen to disagree, and I will tell you why. The EU succeeded not because it separated politics from economy, but because the timing and circumstances were right. Europe started seeking unity after World War II, when the world was dominated by two superpowers, and when Western Europe lived in mortal fear of being run over by the Soviets. The US came to Europe's help with NATO and the Marshall Plan, and these two endeavours greatly boosted Europe's sense of unity. The quest for European unity started with a core group of six countries before nearly 27 nations signed up, and all of those are democracies. Since the start, democracy was a condition for membership. Without democracy, Europe wouldn't have pulled it off. Whenever the public objected to an aspect of unity, the democratic institutions of Europe adapted their tone and pace in order to accommodate public opinion. This cannot happen in the Arab world, because we're yet to embrace democracy. We don't have what it takes for unity. Domestically, we lack democracy. And externally, we don't have the supporting conditions. With Israel lodged in the heart of the region, divisions keep emerging on a scale that can wreck any political or economic endeavour. You may have noticed, the recent fighting in Gaza created rifts deep enough to disrupt the Kuwait summit, economic though it was. Trust me, there is no economic endeavour that bad politics cannot bring to heel. The Kuwait summit may just put its stamp of approval on several projects of great economic importance. But what is the guarantee that, once started, the quest for economic integration would continue? Let me cite Gaza once more. After the Oslo Accords, the occupied Palestinian territories received an extraordinary influx of foreign aid, especially from the EU, and signs of development were soon in evidence. But when the politicians failed to find an acceptable settlement, months of economic achievement were wiped away within hours. When Israel was angry with Arafat for failing to sign the document he was offered in Camp David II, it moved into Palestinian areas, smashing everything in its way. Then when Hamas won the elections in 2006, Israel went into a sour mood and did the same all over again. There is no guarantee that this will ever stop, at least not until the politics is sorted out. * The writer is secretary-general of the Arab Thought Forum, Amman, Jordan.
