The idea of forming a ‘Joint Arab Force’is defined as the struggle against the challenges, notably terrorism,to the Arab world which hastheoretically surrendered to the instability. However, the intentions and concerns of the countries which support this formation are different in particular.
A decision which can be considered radical was taken at the Arab Summit held in Sharm Al-Sheik in Egypt on 29 March 2015. The participating countries agreed to form a ‘Joint Arab Force’ and the commanders of the armed forces in Arab countries were summoned to bring the matter to the table within a month.
This decision of the representatives of Arab world geography, which has had its balances upset within the last few years and completely surrendered to a chaos, was taken after the Yemeni Ansarullah Movement and the Operation Determination Storm launched against the alliance led by the former head of state, Ali Abdullah Saleh. This operation led by Saudi Arabia and supported notably by the Gulf countries except Oman and some Arab States was seen as a rehearsal of the ‘Joint Arab Force’ in certain circles. The objective of this operation in the eyes of the participating countries was ‘to ensure the security of the countries in the region.’ The mission of the joint military force which was planned to be formed was also declared as counterterrorism and protection of Arab security’ by Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the Arab League.
More emphasis should be laid on the declaration of Nabil Elaraby since it includes an important detail. Elaraby underlined that this force wasn’t a new military formation or ‘an army formed against any country.’This statement can be interpreted as a response to the criticism that ‘Joint Arab Force is being founded against Iran, which rises and has more influence in the region day by day.’ However, it is certain that one of the primary reasons that prompt the Arabs to decide on the formation of a joint military force is that Iran strengthened its hands in the region especially after the reconciliation about nuclear power. It is good to broach the subject in order to see this clearly.
Arab Concerns about Iran
Considering either ‘the Gulf’s disunity’ or the competitive relations in the region (notably Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen), Iran is an ‘existential’ threat to fight against in the eyes of its important allies such as Gulf Arabs and Egypt. Iran is a very important factor among the reasons for the Gulf countries’ deployment of ‘Peninsula Shield’ to suppress the rebel opposing the regime in Bahrain and intervention in the rebel. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia was the power on the basis of the Lebanese March 14 Movement against Hezbollah supported by Iran. As it is known, more examples specific to Syria, Yemen and Iraq can be added to these competitive relations.
Iran’s reconciliation with the P5+1 countries about nuclear issue has triggered the concerns of Arab countries under the leadership of the Gulf. Since this development, Arabs started feeling stabbed in the back by their ally, the USA. The opinion that the USA has started to leave the security of the region in the hands of Iranhas caused an increase in Arabs’ Iran-based security concerns and an inclination in search of new defense mechanisms.
Leading Actors: Saudi Arabia and Egypt
The idea of forming a joint force among the Arab countries in the recent period belongs to Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi. Al-Sisi has taken the initiative of the meetings following the summit held in Sharm el-Sheik on 29 March so that the idea could be put into action. The reason why Al-Sisi is taking this issue serious is related to his willingnessto fight against the elements threatening his own country rather than his worries about the security of the Arab world. The president of Egypt thinks about using the joint force in Libya in the event of forming such a force. Supporting Tobruk government and facing the danger of radical organizations like the ISIS in Libya, Egypt sees the force which will be formed as an alternative to the UN which it couldn’t persuade of an intervention in Libya.
Another reason for Al-Sisi’s supporting this formation to such an extent is that he wants to increase his influence in the region since Egyptian Army will constitute the backbone of the joint force. One of the two centers of this force which is planned to have 40 thousand soldiers will be Cairo according to the plan. The other center will inevitably be Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it is foreseen that the leading financier of this force will be Saudi Arabia. With this project, Saudi Arabia aims to receive, in the forthcoming periods, the military assistance that it couldn’t have from the other countries during the Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen in case of a need for assistance. Thus, it will strengthen its hands in the regional competition conflicts as well.
Does it have to do with Pan-Arabism?
The idea of forming a joint force has been discussed thoroughly in the media in the Arab world, notably in Egypt since the Sharm Al-Sheik Summit. Although some Arab thinkers and writers call attention to the importance of such a force for the unity of the Arab world, it is obvious that this formation will not act on the basis of Pan-Arabism unlike the Arab media which addresses the issue with radical Arab nationalist statements. For example, those who closely follow this subject agree that this formation will not put the Palestinian problem into its agenda. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby has already clarified this point while marking out the objectives of such a formation.
There has been an increase in the criticism that the joint force in question ‘will be structured on the sectarian basis and will cause more damage to the Arab League’, because when formation of a joint force has started being discussed, theleading actors of this process brought Iran’s sectarian identity to the forefront rather than its ethnic identity in their policiesagainst Iran.
‘First Comes Common Goal for the Joint Military Force’
There has been suspicion about the idea of Arab countries’ resorting to a joint formation against the elements threatening the security of the Arab world in a period when the regional conflicts intensified to such an extent since the very beginning. One of the points that arouse this suspicion is that the leading actors of the Arab world don’t have a common sustainable attitude or objective concerning the power balances in the region,because each Arab country has to act in accordance with its own national interests vis-à-vis the developments in the regions. The other Arab states, which support the formation of a joint military force in principle, have made this decision in accordance with their relations based on the interests with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.The links and economic relations with the Gulf region have completely determined the attitude of the Arab countries except for the Gulf states which supported the Operation Decisive Storm carried out against the Ansarullah-Ali Abdullah Saleh alliance in Yemen.
To conclude, the idea of forming a ‘Joint Arab Force’ is defined as the struggle against the challenges, notably terrorism, to the Arab world which has theoretically surrendered to the instability. However, the intentions and concerns of the countries which support this formation are different in particular, and this triggers the concerns about how ‘Joint Military Force’ will find itself a common ground evenbefore it’s being formed. Moreover, even though the founding father is Egypt, this formation will be financed by the Gulf states, notably Saudi Arabia. This corroborates the opinion that this formation will be positioned along a certain axis, so it will be on a divisive ground, rather than an integrative one. In this context, there has been serious suspicion that Saudi Arabia aims, with this project, at a more active version of Peninsula Shield Force which belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
‘Countering terrorism’ can be seen as the common goal of the joint military force at the moment when ISIS terrorist organization is threating the entire Arab world. However, what we will see in the long run is that the notion of ‘terrorism’ will turn out to be ‘hard to define and thus open-ended’ in the eyes of the Arab states.
This article was published in Ortadoğu Analiz journal with the title of ““JointArab Military Force”as the New Search for Balance in the Middle East”
