Would you support a united Arab State?

[West German]

I believe that the Arabs should unite into a united states of the Middle East. They could then attack Isreal, but thats probably not in their best interests. General Nasser of Egypt could have done that 40 years ago. Or Saddam could have done it in 1980 and united the Arab world agianst Iran or Isreal or stay in peace.

 

[jpowers]

They already tried this. As much as the scaremongers want to depict Muslim nations as all involved together in a shadowy terrorist conspiracy, in fact the only reason they're not all at war with each other now is the common enemy of Israel. Even this isn't enough to make them act with any kind of political untity, though.

 

[Yoda Power]

No i would not support that.

 

[Zcylen]

then yoda, would you have supported NATO to prevent communism?
its just the other side of the coin.

 

[gr8ful wes]

No. I would only support the state I live in.

 

[nixon]

Will never happen. Pan-Arabism was effectively choked with Nasser - and will be utterly desolated when Saddam's toast. In addition, not a helluva good idea - not all Arab nations have the same incentives, aims etc., and not all are as hostile toward the United States as Syria and Saudi Arabia.

 

[Hitro]

The Arab dictators won't like it, so it won't happen.

Nobody can say what would have happened had Nasser succeeded in his plan to destroy Israel, but today a unification is even more unlikely.

 

[Richard III]

Perhaps someone should ask our Arab members if they support it, since they're supposed to be somewhat relevant to the decision.

Oh, wait! Do we have any Arab members?

R.III

 

[Jeratain]

Look, if they could all set aside their stupid religious squanderings, then I think it's possible. However most of them are so set on religion being the center of their governments that they forget about the people. I don't understand why certain governments (if we would call them that) seem to think that religion is the most important aspect to be connected to government. The country / state can be religious and moral while still keeping a seperation of church and state.

However as it currently is, the Shiites and the Sunnis are in too much disagreement over simple fundamentals of Islam to even come to agreement on religion. How can we expect them to unite into a single government?

I would support a united Arab state, when, and only if, religion is set aside as the key factor for running the government.

 

[Switch625]

Powers is right. The United Arab Republic was a grand plan in the 1960s, but it died stillborn. It ended up being a temporary union between Egypt and Syria, but that union wasn't stable and didn't last very long. There is too much animosity and competition between the various Arab nations for such a union to be viable. It will never happen.

 

[Sh3kel]

Hell yeah, under the provision they recognize the existance of Israel as sovereign nation within internationally recognized borders and agree to peaceful relations with us, as the Saudi Peace plan began to describe correctly. If a united Arab state recognizes the existance of Israel and leads a peaceful co-existance with us, I have no objection to it being established.






This of course doesn't mean the IDF will lower its current level of alert or stop training towards a potential war. The existance of a peaceful neighbour depends on how terrified he is of getting into a conflict with you.
-"He who seeks peace best be prepared for war."

 

[Switch625]

Originally posted by Richard III
Oh, wait! Do we have any Arab members?

I only know of one.

 

[Zcylen]

Originally posted by Switch625


I only know of one.

really? I havent noticed anyone.
if there are, they're pretty shy in the forums dont they?

 

[Bifrost]

Achmad - he's from saudi arabia.

None of the contemporary rulers of arabic countries will agree with forming some kind of alliance or a common state. They have enough money to live on their own.

 

[Phantom Lord]

I'm european (german to be precise) and I support the EU.

If some or all arab countries decide to have a "AU", there's nothing wrong for me, at least if the goal is NOT to go to war with whomever. On the other hand I wouldn't actively "support" it, because it doesn't concern me nearly as much as it concerns the people who live there.

I personally think that the arab culture is heavily underestimated by portraying it like the media mostly do it today. They're not a bunch of wild people riding camels who only want to destroy Israel and sell oil at high prices. They're actually a culture that invented many important things and has it's own set of respectable values. So if they unite, what's the problem?

 

[Jeratain]

Originally posted by Richard III
Perhaps someone should ask our Arab members if they support it, since they're supposed to be somewhat relevant to the decision.

Oh, wait! Do we have any Arab members?

R.III

I wouldn't call myself Arab. I was born in America, however my parents immigrated (legally mind you) here from Iran - So I guess I can be considered American/Iranian.

 

[Suppersalmon]

if they did all merge they would have alot of power due to the masses of oil and which could lead to the contries that need oil surporting them but could lead to a increase in green ways which would be better for the planet

 

[nixon]

Besides, such a 'union' would require a uniform interpretation of how to conduct foreign policy which will always be a vacillating issue within the Arab sphere.

 

[Richard III]

For the record, I would like more Arab members...!

Maybe after the liberation of Iraq, net access will be easier there, and we can all send our old copies of Civ2 to Basra and Baghdad as a recruiting tool.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

It failed before, and would fail utterly again. Different states have different interests and allies; saying that Bahrain or Oman would join with Syria is simplistic. It is a different geo-political climate than when the previous incarnation had its brief existence, and the world is much changed.