LITTLE HOPES FOR THE ARAB LEAGUE AS GLOBAL CRISES LOOM
The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed comments on the MENA region’s most significant issues and trends. Today, we focus on the upcoming 31st Arab League Summit, where representatives of national governments will convene in Algeria, after a hiatus of more than three years, to address the most relevant current issues concerning the Arab world.
On November the 1st, several leaders and officers from various Arab nations will gather in Algiers for the 31st Arab League summit. Expectations are high for this summit of Arab leaders, the first since many troubled years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the signing of the Abraham Accords, and the start of the war in Ukraine. After a three-year hiatus, participants of the summit will have to cover several dossiers, including the protracted uncertainty over the Palestinian issue and the ongoing crises in Libya, Lebanon and Yemen. These major concerns, amongst others, are compounded by cross-cutting challenges which have been exacerbated by the Ukrainian war, such as increased food insecurity that threatens many Arab states. Nevertheless, the fragmentation that has long plagued the organisation, highlighted by the track record of previous summits, suggests that the real risk for a lack of any conclusive outcomes from the upcoming summit exists. Amongst some of the most divisive issues is that of Syria’s rehabilitation within the League and the Arab world, which has been strongly advocated for since 2018 by member states such as Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but also opposed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar. Given the lack of consensus in this regard, the Syrian government declared in September its decision not to send a delegation to Algiers, leading the matter to suspension. The long-standing rift between Algeria and Morocco, whose bilateral relations have soured over the past year due to the Western Sahara contention, also divides the Arab states. In this respect, the possible attendance of the Moroccan King Mohammed VI – if confirmed – might announce a distention of relations between the two countries. In any case, the summit will represent a starkly success for Algeria, which grasps an opportunity to show its renewed geopolitical role within the concert of the Arab powers.
Experts from the ISPI MED network focus on the incoming 31st Arab League Summit in Algeria.
