Britain and Arab Unity by Younan Labib Rizk

Author:Younan Labib Rizk [Rizk, Younan Labib]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Middle East, Political Science, Peace, Political Ideologies, Nationalism & Patriotism, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, Modern, 20th Century, Military, World War II, International Relations, Diplomacy
ISBN: 9780857737540
Google: M9SLDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2009-08-21T22:28:25+00:00

The Impact of the War

Barely a few days after the outbreak of World War II, the Eastern Department at the British Foreign Office drafted a comprehensive, 14-page memorandum on Arab unity. It was in the form of a survey of conditions in the Arab world at this decisive point in time, a fact which makes it, in our opinion, a highly significant document.41

The document starts by drawing a map of the Arab World based on existing concepts. The states that make up the Arab world are Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, in addition to Syria, Lebanon and Trans-Jordan, which, though each has its own government, are still under the control of the Mandate Powers (France and Britain). Then, there is the British Colony of Aden, the British protectorates of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Kalbā, and the six Trucial Coast Sheikhdoms. As for Muscat, although it is legally independent, in practice it is still under British control. Moreover, while some consider Tripoli an Arab country, as they do other North African countries, the memorandum openly excludes them, as it does Sudan, which at the time was subject to an Anglo-Egyptian condominium; ‘for although Arabic is spoken there, it cannot be called an Arab country’.42

The memorandum then moves on to what it calls ‘the Arab Dream’, which foresees a union among all Asian Arab countries plus Egypt, and describes it as difficult to achieve. However, both the invention of the wireless and use of the motor car have removed many obstacles hindering contacts and communication, not to mention the discovery of oil that helped resolve many of the region’s financial problems. There is thus ‘no intrinsic reason why the whole of the Arabian Peninsula as far north as Anatolia and the Iranian plateau should not unite into a single political unit. Egypt will always be likely to remain apart.’

The Eastern Department’s memorandum then addresses various Arab unity proposals, and carefully examines each separately:

– The federation of Syria and Iraq, a plan discussed some years ago based on a dual-monarchy under the Iraqi monarchy

– The federation of Syria, possibly Lebanon, Palestine and Trans-Jordan

– The federation of Palestine, Trans-Jordan and Iraq, which is the project advocated by Iraqi Prime Minister Nūrī al-Saʿīd

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