Bashar al-Assad has been invited to attend the Arab League summit in Saudi Port city, Jeddah for the first time since the beginning of civil war in Syria in 2011. This year the summit holds enormous significance because Saudi Arabia and its major allies have moved forth to thaw the strained relations with Syria, against whom it had been involved in decade long proxy war. The restoration of relations is in line with the continuation of trail of peace-making with Iran recently which was brokered by China.
Figure1 Image Source: CNN
History of Arab League
Arab League is a group of Arab countries stretching from West Asia to African continent. It was founded in 1945 with headquarters in Cairo. Interestingly, Syria was one of the founding members. This organization espouses Arab unity based on shared culture and colonial experiences but in practice lack of consensus and power dynamics has dominated its landscape . Moreover, critics say that over the period of time, it has rather become representative of authoritarian regimes. It has historically supported the Palestinian cause and has time and again backed Palestinian statehood at United Nations.
Figure 2 Image source: Write Caliber
The major thorn in its eye lies in its failure to tackle Syrian Crisis. This is certainly because of its amputated functioning. No member state is obliged to implement the resolutions. According to the charter, the decisions are taken unanimously and applicable to only those states that accept them. In this regard, NYU Associate professor Mohamad Bazzi has called the organization as “glorified debating society”. This has impeded the organization to take concerted action which has been evident during Syrian civil war.
Why was Syria expelled from the Arab League?
When the wave of Arab spring protests reached Syria in 2011, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brutally dismissed the pro-democracy protests leading to bloodshed and chaos. Autocratic behavior of Assad was not well-received by world leaders. Owing to the failure of head of the state to halt the violence, Syria was suspended from the Arab League until it executes the peace deal. Consequently, League also decided to impose heavy sanctions on the state.
It was observed that Syria did not adhere to the agreement, therefore, Syrian opposition was seen as a legitimate representative of Syrian citizens. Unfortunately, Lebanon, Iraq and Algeria vetoed the proposal, thus, the resolution remained in limbo. But today, the things seem to change on the ground. After almost 12 years, Syria has been invited to attend the Arab league summit which is a break from the past in view of recent geopolitical shifts in the region.
Why Syria has been called back to the League?
The immediate event which pushed Arab States to rejuvenate their lost ties could be attributed to recent earthquakes which badly hit Syria and Turkey. The natural calamity paved the way for emergency aid from Middle East states. Even United States paid heed and overturned the sanctions for six months for unhindered aid.
The neighboring countries like Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon which are hosting refugees from Syria, are seeking to send back the refugees to their home state through agreement with Syrian government. Other states like UAE and Saudi Arabia want Syria to put an end to its drug smuggling trade which is the major source of remuneration of Syrian regime.
These are the subsidiary reasons for revival of relations. The main reason to restore the bonhomie is that Arab allies spearheaded by Saudi Arabia got involved in the quagmire of Syrian civil war which drained millions of dollars as well as culminated in deaths and devastation but the aim to overthrow Shia ruler could not be achieved. Assad supported by Iran and Russia was able to outmaneuver the rebels, thereby consolidating almost entire territory. Therefore, joining hands with Syria seemed to be a viable option to rekindle stability in West Asia.
