The Vicissitudes of the Arab States System: From its Emergence to the Arab Spring

Abstract

This article analyzes the historical performance of the Arab states system—incarnated in the form of the League of Arab States (AL)—from the latter’s foundation in 1945 through its heydays in the late 1970s during which it left a long-term imprint in the form of new norms and rules governing the inter-Arab game, to the more recent state of weakness and marginalization, especially in the wake of the Arab Spring. Contrary to the commonly held views by Western scholars of the AL as an inherent failure, this article sheds light on the impact made by this system via the AL, especially in affecting interstate security and order in a region saturated with conflicts.