A lot of meetings are taking place recently among the Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Syria. These meetings are not enough, for what is needed is a constructive strategy and dialogue that can alleviate them from their tangled situation.
The questions to be asked following each summit: Would the Arabs produce a strategic plan to replace their contemporary tactics so as to avoid confrontation along their borders and preserve their people lives? It is high time for the leaders to ask themselves some questions especially after sixty years of disappointments and wars that led to volatile and capricious political situation in the region. What can they do to gain momentum over the Israeli hardliners policies that are threatening the region and Obama’s positive approach towards Iran, Syria and his commitment to two state solution? In countries that are threatened by aggressive neighbors, deterrence and diplomacy are necessary so as to avoid future confrontation. Will the Iranian nuclear ambitions along with their continuous meddling in the area, and the continuous Israeli threat drive them to unite and accommodate their differences to face the new challenges that are dominating the area?
The Arab leaders should be able after sixty years of fragmentation and wars to unite and modify their approach to reflect a united front in front of their adversaries. The world around them is changing, and they are still caught in their internal strife with each other ignoring the fact that Iran and Israel posses the key for regional flux. These negative currents that are hitting the area need a new approach, unity, farsightedness and vision. Both countries are using the Arab internal discord so as to cement their agendas and regime.
The Arabs must understand that Israel is fortifying its existence on the ground by changing the demography of Jerusalem, demolishing homes, building settlements, creating another wave of refugees, annexing land and building more walls to dissect the Palestinians from each other, and from their homes and lands. These actions will not create a Palestinian viable state and so peace will not prevail as some countries envision.
The miserable Palestinian situation needs more than Arab summits, they need actions, so as to grasp the opportunity that the new administration is providing in dealing with the Middle East problems. The leaders should create an Arab road map that protects the holy city, and ensures that all the homes, lands and people are intact. They should create an Arab panel that can travel and present to the west the wretched situation and explain the criminal acts that Israel is pursing against humanity. They ought to provide practical roadmap that cements the right of the Palestinian people on the ground. It is not anymore a matter of choice; they should get involved internationally and produce solutions so as to avoid future confrontation that would threaten the area. This map should be able to accommodate the fear of Hamas and Hezbollah so as to deter Iran’s role in the area, especially with the new European positive gestures towards these two organizations.
On the other hand, Iran shares borders with Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. It also has an access on the Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea, and Gulf of Oman. This geographical location is allowing it to be an active player in the region. Iran has cemented its role as a regional player after the USA invaded Afghanistan and Iraq; two rival regimes that threatened the existence of Iran were toppled. Iran has worked closely behind the scenes in 2001 with the USA so as to depose Taliban and Sadam Hussein regime. This window of opportunity allowed it to strengthen its grip on the events in the area especially by containing the Sunni expansion on its boarders from the west and the east.
The Arabs have a lot at stake, Iran could be a threat to them and their oil, for it controls the Strait of Hormuz, which is used to transfer around ten million barrels daily from the gulf countries to the world. The Arabs should avoid having Iran as a destabilizing force, so it will not harm their interests by closing the strait. Iran also poses and presents a threat to the region by pursing its nuclear proliferation; this in itself creates a threat to the neighboring countries and of course to the American existence in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey. It is catch twenty two situation, where Iran feels that its Arab neighbors are conspiring against their regime with the USA military machine that is surrounding Iran’s borders from the east and west, and the USA and the Europeans feel vulnerable from Iran’s nuclear program. Knowing that Iran could be an obstacle to USA interest in the region, and a threat to Iraq and Kabul security, the new administration took a different approach from the Bush administration; it pledged to invite Iran to the multilateral conference on Afghanistan, and hoping it will engage bilaterally after the Iranian elections in June. President Obama understands that Iran is part of the regional security equation, and should be included so as to be contained.
With the same token, the Arab leaders should engage Iran in a constructive dialogue that would create a positive impact on the ground and create a stable region, where Iran does not feel threatened from the world. The call by Saudi Arabia on Iran not to intervene in the Arab affairs is legitimate, however, they should understand that Iran is like an octopus that have many arms and proxies and can extend them and reach all over the region, where it can manipulate events on the ground to its political advantage.
The recent visit by the Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki should be taken as a positive gesture and build on it. Including Iran in any summit will empower the Arabs in dealing with Israel and let them face any fundamental threat that hits the Middle East, and most important would turn a rival country into a friend. The Arab street needs solutions and not futile words from its leaders so it can live in peace and harmony with each other.
Tags: Afghanistan, Arabs, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Obama, Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, Syria
