March 18, 2016 5 News & Analysis New Arab League secretary-general Taxing mission, divided region face new Arab League chief Ibrahim Ouf dent Bashar Assad, even by force, terference of some of them in the offering support to his armed oppo- affairs of others or because some sition, while Egypt and Iraq are for states pursue foreign policies harm- Cairo a negotiated solution to the crisis. ful to others. Other Arab states apparently stand An instance of the weakness of he 22-member Arab on the fence. the Arab League emerged in late League, which celebrates Inter-Arab rifts are also palpable 2015 when Turkey deployed troops its 71st anniversary this on other fronts, including Yemen, into northern Iraq with the stated month amid unprecedent- Iraq and Libya, where the Islamic aim of repelling ISIS. ed turmoil in the region, State (ISIS) seemingly overruns new The league only denounced the Thas a new secretary-general, with territories every day, directly threat- move and called on Turkey to with- the hard mission of resurrecting the ening the security of neighbouring draw its troops. organisation, reunifying Arab ranks Arab states. The league did nothing more than and rescuing four states shattered Palestine, which for decades had condemn other violations of Arab by wars. been the Arabs’ issue No 1, is tak- rights, including the latest bombing Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egypt’s for- ing a backseat, while Arab states are of the Saudi consulate in Tehran. mer foreign minister, was elected busy trying to solve their internal “The Arab world is full of divi- to the post on March 10th during a problems. sions and tension,” Mohamed al- stormy session at the pan-Arab or- Shazly, a former diplomat and a ganisation headquarters in Cairo, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, member of the Egyptian Council for amid reservations from Qatar and Egypt’s former Foreign Affairs, a think tank, said. Sudan, both of which cited remarks “This has emboldened international made by him previously against foreign minister, powers to do whatever they want in them. was elected to the the region.” But, away from diplomatic bick- post on March 10th. Nevertheless, Aboul-Gheit, the ering behind closed doors, the last foreign minister in the govern- 73-year-old Aboul-Gheit, who will Under the strains of bringing ment of autocratic Egyptian presi- serve for five years, takes over the member states together are limits dent Hosni Mubarak, is viewed by league at a time when the waves of to what anybody can do as Arab some as the person least capable of Arab turmoil have never been high- League secretary-general, experts leading the Arabs out of their ongo- er, experts say. say. These limits were outlined by ing crises. “He has a lot on his plate with outgoing chief Nabil Elaraby after His repeated defence of the octo- four of the 22 member states of the Aboul-Gheit’s nomination. genarian president after his ouster league torn by war,” Hussein Haridi, “Do you want this league to be in 2011 had brought him criticism, a former Egyptian assistant foreign strong?” Elaraby asked. “This de- while the mood in Arab countries minister and a colleague of Aboul- pends on the will of league mem- was all about democracy. Gheit, said. “He has to get Arab bers.” Aboul-Gheit’s tenure as foreign states to agree on a unified way out But this “will”, observers say, is minister was marred by events that A 2011 file picture of new Arab League secretary-general Ahmed of the turmoil in these four states; difficult to find at this time of great changed the Arab world for good. Aboul-Gheit. otherwise these states will cease to polarisation. He was foreign minister when Su- exist as we know them now.” The Arab League stood idly by dan broke up into two states in 2011. The Arab states Aboul-Gheit and watched as Syria descended A short while before Israel staged as Arab League chief. Despite this, Nevertheless, this lack of will needs to unify are deeply polarised into civil war, did nothing as Iraq a merciless onslaught on the Gaza soon after his nomination, he prom- should not sap the man’s resolve, on how this turbulence can end, waded into unrest and then lost ter- Strip in 2008, he was meeting with ised to work to solve Arab problems, said Amr Moussa, an Arab League driven by their inconsistent nation- ritory to ISIS and even gave the go- then-Israeli foreign minister Tzipi make the Arab League a home for all chief for ten years until 2011. al interests. ahead signal in March 2011 to an in- Livni. A few days into the onslaught, Arabs and turn it into an effective “The secretary-general has to Syria, a country ripped apart by ternational coalition to strike Libya he confessed in 2015, he sabotaged organisation. work to create this will,” Moussa infighting for five years now, is a and destroy its army. an invitation for an emergency Arab Some people say because of the told private Dream TV. case in point. Saudi Arabia, the The Arab League did little to summit to discuss the Israeli ag- lack of Arab will to blow life into United Arab Emirates and Qatar are reconcile Arab states now at log- gression. the league and ongoing rifts, Aboul- Ibrahim Ouf is an Egyptian reporter for ending the rule of Syrian Presi- gerheads, either because of the in- This legacy can haunt the man Gheit will not succeed. based in Cairo. The Arab League and the need for renewal Viewpoint he Arab League found Bassil Gebran’s move to defy opened the door for Iran. recent regional crisis, and is itself in a strange Arab consensus on condemning During the Sharm el-Sheikh It is too not even a factor in the Syrian situation after its the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s summit in 2003, held on the situation. leader, Secretary-Gen- diplomatic missions in Iran and eve of the Iraq war, most of the early to The Arab League has also eral Nabil Elaraby, act as a de facto envoy from Tehran discussions revolved around ways announce completely failed to help restore announced he would sums up the dire straits that the that the conflict could be avoided, the death Palestinian national unity and Tnot seek to renew his term in Arab League finds itself in. It even if delegates privately agreed accept the political reality today. of the Arab office, which ends in July. also shows the extent to which that there was no way out. So, given all these failures, does His replacement was quickly Lebanon is no longer the state that The meeting that year was League. this represent the end of the Arab chosen, another Egyptian former it once was. consumed by bickering, with League? Khairallah foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul- This does not mean that Iran ultimately no Arab state, or indeed It is too early to announce the Khairallah Gheit. But it would be wrong to does not deserve to be heard. But it all Arab states working together death of the Arab League, but say that Aboul-Gheit’s nomination is out of the question for Lebanon through the conduit of the Arab that does not mean we should not resolves the major problems facing to become an Iranian colony. It League, able to do anything to be looking for a new framework, the Arab League. would have been better for an impact the coming war. including new decision-making Has the position of Arab League Iranian official to be invited to Today, Iraq is another country and voting procedures that allow secretary-general become nothing present Tehran’s point of view at that is no longer part of the Arab for stronger positions and do away more than a place to park former an Arab League meeting. flock in the same way that it was in with weak compromises. Egyptian foreign ministers? The fact that an Arab country the past. What worked in 1945 may There is an Arab crisis. The Arab can speak in the voice of Iran at an Over the past decade or more, no longer be relevant in 2016. League is acting as if nothing is Arab League meeting exemplifies the Arab League has failed on The Middle East has changed. wrong and everything is normal. the changes that the region has every level. It failed in Iraq. It The entire world has changed. But really it should be asking: witnessed since 2003 and the failed in Syria and Yemen. The Sectarianism is on the rise, a Is the Arab League capable of George W. Bush administration’s Arab League has been singularly self-proclaimed terrorist caliphate renewing itself and playing an ill-advised war in Iraq, which unable to find a solution to any has been established in the heart effective role? of the region, while Iranian If the Arab League wants to expansionism continues to endure for much longer, it must threaten the Arab Gulf. seriously investigate how to renew This organisation, the only one itself and breathe new life into to bring Arabs together, must deal its operations, at a time when in realities. In the end, does the everything in the Arab world has Arab League want to be at the changed, when major regional heart of events or on the sidelines? players are on the wane, and Do Arab states or at least those that even the notion of what it is to be remain want to have a role in the “Arab” is in flux.