An Arab Summit For All Seasons
By Dr Marwan Asmar
01 April,
2008
Countercurrents.org
The holding of the Arab Summit in Damascus must be seen as a great snub to American foreign policy which has been based seen 2003 on lumping Syria together with Iran and North Korea as one of the axis of evil powers and isolating the state from her natural geo-political Arab surroundings.
Although, and by tradition, Arab summits are seen as no more than talking shops, or at the very least get-togethers for Arab leaders to try and show a united stand that actually leads to very little on substance, the timing of the Damascus meeting is particularly significant because of the American role in the region and continued occupation of Iraq and the clear dispute between different Arab countries.
The agreement
to hold the Arab Summit in Damascus, based on the rotation of Arab
states members of the Arab League, is a clear favor to stick to diplomatic
routine. Twelve Arab leaders attended the meet despite the recent
pressure put by Washington on Arab countries not to deal with Syria,
and has been trying to
ostracize its government over the last five years.
Although the international and Arab media have been saying before and during the summit the Arab world is witnessing deep divisions as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain and Morocco only sent lower level delegations, the fact is that everyone attended the meeting regardless of who came and why they came.
On the contrary, the states that attended including Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates were represented by their leaders, and are all staunchly pro-Western, points to the fact that divisions and even schisms are being over-played by American policy-makers, and which on the whole have failed to persuade Arab leaders to boycott the Arab summit and despite the fact many observers say much pressure was put on different Arab governments not to attend.
Lebanon is a definite sour thumb, a country whose Prime Minister and Acting President Fouad Sinoura said he would not attend because of accusations of Syrian meddling through his country’s affairs via Hizbollah and different sectarian and opposition groups that are unable to agree to a presidential choice because of the power-play they are attempting to enforce.
But that may actually be over-dealing the role of Syria and many observers including those in Beirut are saying Lebanese politicians, including Sinoura are quite happy in not hurrying to elect a president that will probably come in due time, suffice it to say the USA are very pleased with the stance adopted by Lebanese Prime Minister in not attending.
Lebanon should have attended because of many reasons, most of all to do with its geo-historic relations both to the region and Syria, and demonstrate that it can deal within its own problems rather than call upon Damascus to pressure its allies in Lebanon.
In not attending it has left the door open for more internal bickering and even meddling with an extended handed to outside states like America which will not be able to do much except increase ferment in the region because of its embroilment in Iraq.
Sinoura should have taking the Palestinian example in attending. Over the decades and years, the Palestinians have followed a constructive example of regarding themselves as part of the Arab geography knowing full well the Arab countries will be at pains to do anything to upset the regional balance versus Israel. Subsequently, they have been attending as much of these regional gatherings as possible purely for a show of hands and/or of boosting morale if for nothing else with the Arab-Israeli conflict effectively being reduced to a Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
What now the summit has ended. Initiatives have been taken on Lebanon and Palestine, while trouble on Iraq was shown in the last minute. The questions that must be asked will these stand—the Yemeni initiative to end the Hamas-Fatah stand-off—have much weight and be carried out, or will the Arab initiative to recognize Israel in return for her withdrawal from all occupied territories lead to much.
It is feared that everyone will go home till the next summit, where the same dialogue with different players will be played out. The summit has become an institution, and maybe this is good enough in a world dominated by parochialism and short-sigtedness in a globalized world of nation-states where no one is prepared to look beyond their noses.
Many observers, and they could be right, say Arab leaders and politicians deal with such Arab summits—the latest being the 20th—from a statist perspective and from their own interest rather from the interest of the Arab nation which over the past decades and years been dissected through borders and territories and external linkages.
The author is an Amman-based writer and media consultant and is presently the Responsible Chief Editor of Jo Magazine, a monthly that deals with local affairs and those affecting the region.
