An organization of 22 Arab states in the Middle East, the Arab League is also called the League of Arab States. Established in Cairo, Egypt, in 1945, the organization seeks to promote the political, social, and military interests of its members.

Membership

The founding member states of the league are Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Members who joined later are Libya, the Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Kuwait, Algeria, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Somalia, the Palestine Liberation Organization, Djibouti, and Comoros. Each member has one vote on the League Council. Decisions are binding only on those states that have voted for them. The head of the league is known as the secretary-general. The secretary-general is appointed to a five-year term by a two-thirds majority of league members.

Goals

The overall aim of the league is to promote Arab interests. Its main goals are to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic, and social programs of its members and to try to settle disputes among them or between them and third parties. In 1950 they also agreed to provide military support to help defend each other.

History

In its early years, the Arab League concentrated mainly on economic, cultural, and social programs. In 1964, for example, it established the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) to promote science and learning in the Arab world. In the 1970s political activity increased. The league, however, was weakened by internal fighting over political issues, especially those concerning Israel. Since its founding as a state in 1948, Israel has had hostile relations with its Arab neighbors—especially the Palestinians, who claim they are the rightful owners of much of Israel's land. After Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in March 1979, the other members of the Arab League voted to suspend Egypt's membership and to transfer the league's headquarters from Cairo to Tunis in the North African country of Tunisia. Egypt was reinstated as a member of the Arab League in 1989, and the league's headquarters returned to Cairo in 1990.

In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. The resulting Persian Gulf War brought foreign troops, notably those of the United States, to the Middle East. The war and the presence of foreign troops caused a deep division in the league. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Djibouti, and Somalia approved of the presence of foreign troops in the region, and all but the last three had some degree of military involvement in the war. The other members of the league opposed the presence of Western troops in what they view as sacred Islamic land.

More recently, the league officially condemned a terrorist attack against the United States—allegedly carried out by men of Arab descent—on September 11, 2001. The attack destroyed New York City's World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and killed thousands.