With the formation of the Arab League in 1945, a dream of the Arab masses came true, as they had been longing for economic and social unity. Ironically, the first official Arab Summit was held in Cairo on Jan. 13, 1964. That’s about two decades after the establishment of the body.
Leaders of the Arab countries were supposed to convene a meeting annually. Had this been the case, the Kuwait summit would have been 68th meeting but it is the 25th summit. Looking back at the previous summits, it will dawn on us that they were mainly aimed at crisis management with emotions running high but yielding no concrete results.
An average Arab gained almost nothing from those summits. Masses in the Arab world want better education, health care, social security and jobs. All the previous meetings miserably failed to come up with a strategy to address these issues. Sadly, internal divisions mar the Arab world. Despite the passage of over six decades since the establishment of the Arab League, we see deep divisions among Arab countries. Is the Kuwait summit any different from the previous ones?
This meeting has been convened at a time when the so-called Arab Spring has exposed the fragility of the Arab fabric. Apart from internal divisions many erstwhile influential countries — Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and to some extent Tunisia and Egypt — are no longer in a position to play any active role.
Times have changed and that too for the worse. As a matter of fact, the worst is not over yet. The Syrian conflict has rendered 9 million people refugees in three years and over 150,000 have been killed.
The country is in complete ruins. And worst of all, the Arab Spring has almost transformed from a quest for democracy and better living standards into a bloody sectarian struggle.
So, what the Arab leaders have to offer at the Kuwait summit to satisfy the need of the masses? The differences and divisions among the leaders had already been surfacing even before the start of the summit.
For the past one decade, the Arab world ranks very low in terms of human development with the current rate of unemployment at an all time high. The Arab leaders should put their differences aside and concentrate on upgrading the standard of living. The Arab masses are demanding reforms. This is why there was an Arab Spring. An uprising that took out many dictators but failed to deliver the many promises that were made by those who took over the helm.
The entire world is waiting with bated breath the outcome of the summit. In the past, most summits revolved around one issue: Liberation of Palestine. Now there are many issues at hand. How can they solve the Palestinian issue, if the borders between many countries are closed? And how can they ask the world to understand them and open channels of communication with them if the communication among themselves is an uphill task.
There are many other issues that have been unresolved for many decades and the longer we wait the more complex they will become. The Arab League must change its outdated doctrine and put the interests of the masses ahead of any differences between leaders.
It is no longer only the Palestinian issue, the Syrian crisis has become a puzzle. And to add to the worries, citizens of the Gulf countries are seeing cracks in the most reliable Arab union among six powerful and richest states.
Now, the Arab world is at a crossroads. Poverty, unemployment, social inequality and a lack of respect to the masses are factors that might lead to lawlessness and breed extremist tendencies that lead to terrorism. The Arab masses deserve a better living standard and the leaders are obligated to deliver.
Many, if not all, Arab countries are rich in natural resources but without proper leadership, the resources are wasted and not utilized. As a matter of fact, we saw some of those natural riches stolen in broad daylight in Libya and at the end of the day it was the western forces — we criticize day in and day out — who helped retrieve the stolen oil. If we can’t manage our resources and assets, someone else will.
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