New regional order could restore historic inter-Arab relations

The Arab world was far more united before Arab nationalist parties calling for Arab unity came to power and will probably become more united after their downfall. If this proves to be true, then the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the end of Baath Party rule will improve Damascus’ relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states.

This paradox — that the regional order dominated by Arab nationalist parties that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s did more to divide the Arab world than to unite it — occurred to me while reading an Oxford University dissertation by Tommy Hilton. This thesis tells the story of the “Shawam,” referring to Syrians and Lebanese in the Saudi court. These Shawam (the word comes from “Bilad Al-Sham,” or the Levant) served as advisers to the court of King Abdulaziz, the unifier of the Kingdom.

The Shawam belonged to an Arab nationalist elite that moved seamlessly between the courts of an older regional order of monarchies. Some of the Shawam were loyal to the Hashemites in the Hijaz and later in Jordan and Iraq before they joined the court of King Abdulaziz, where they played a major role in establishing the Saudi Foreign Ministry and the Kingdom’s foreign policy. This mobility between states happened as if they all served one Arab world, regardless of boundaries. It mainly happened before the rise of Nasserism and the Baath Party that ruled Egypt, Syria and Iraq.

But who were these Shawam and what was their role in the Kingdom? Most prominent among them were Sheikh Hafiz Wahba, Yusuf Yasin and Fuad Bey Hamza. These three were involved in various negotiations on behalf of King Abdulaziz, even before the unification of the Kingdom in 1932.

The Alexandria Protocol that created the Arab League respected the various states’ independence and sovereignty

Nadim Shehadi

Wahba was the first ambassador to the UK, as well as envoy to the Vatican, and Hamza was ambassador to France. Together with Yasin, they represented the Kingdom in several negotiations with the British, French, Germans and Italians, as well as in international conferences over border disputes. There were many other notable Shawam, such as Nabih Al-Azmah, who participated in negotiations over Yemen with the Italians together with Yasin and Hamza. Another was Khayr Al-Din Al-Zirikli, who represented the Kingdom in early meetings to found the Arab League in Egypt. His career served as another example of mobility between several courts.

The list is long and includes Jamil Baroody, who represented Saudi Arabia at the UN for more than 33 years — a post later held by another of the Shawam, Samir Al-Shihabi. Yet another Damascene, Dr. Rashad Pharaon, was a personal physician and adviser to King Abdulaziz and was later appointed as ambassador to France. Many others came to Saudi Arabia after the rise of Baath Party rule in Syria and Iraq, including tribal leaders from various parts of those two countries.

The Arab League was created in 1945, before the rise of the Arab nationalist-dominated one-party states. Five of the eight founding members — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan and Iraq — were monarchies, while Syria and Lebanon were independent republics and there was also Palestinian representation. Arab activists at the time almost behaved as though they were in the same political entity that covered the region. The Alexandria Protocol that created the Arab League respected the various states’ independence and sovereignty and encouraged economic, cultural and security cooperation, as well as collaboration over the question of Palestine.

It is easy to understand how the dominance of single parties with wider Arab nationalist agendas, such as Nasserism and Baathism, in Egypt, Syria and Iraq created an atmosphere in which they posed a threat to each other. The revolutionary pan-Arab parties wanted to dominate other Arab states rather than cooperate with them; they considered them as temporary artificial entities and the order they created had no consideration for state sovereignty.

The revolutionary pan-Arab parties wanted to dominate other Arab states rather than cooperate with them

Nadim Shehadi

Each of the modern Arab nationalist parties sought Arab unity under its own dominance and, as such, caused much conflict between Arab states. A perfect example was the experience of the United Arab Republic, which was founded in 1958 as a union between Syria and Egypt and had aspirations of being joined by Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. The union broke down after three years because of centralized power being in the hands of Nasserists in Cairo. The same happened with the Baath Party, which originally ruled in both Syria and Iraq but then split into two separate branches with intense rivalry.

In fact, many conflicts in the region were caused by the phenomenon of these political parties trying to expand their dominance beyond their borders, disregarding individual states’ sovereignty as agreed in the original protocols of the Arab League. Tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Egyptian interference in Yemen, Syria’s conflicts with Jordan and Iraq and its intervention in Lebanon and, of course, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait are all examples of how these parties caused far more division than the unity they ideologically aspired for.

Regional cooperation can be seen as a historic continuity from ancient times, driven by trade routes and migration patterns that have ensured continuous exchanges between the different parts of the Arabian Peninsula. These trans-Arabian routes had existed since pre-Islamic times and continued through tribal and social connections until they were all broken by the Nasserists and Baathists.

There is much talk of a new order in the region and momentum toward renewed involvement by the Arab Gulf states in the affairs of the Levant. In the midst of the major changes in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, there are new relationships to be made. This new order, which replaces that of the Arab nationalist parties that tried to dominate each other, will perhaps contribute to increased cooperation and a more stable and prosperous region.

• Nadim Shehadi is an economist and political adviser. X: @Confusezeus