The League of Arab States

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,7, University of Hohenheim (Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences Chair for International Economics), course: International Institutions, language: English, abstract: Ever since the appalling events of 9/11 and the war in Iraq the developments in the Arab world are back again in the focus of public interest. But what is this undefined body called the Arab world? Is there a common Arab voice, and if so, who is representing it? The Arab world is often taken to mean the 22 members of the League of Arab States, better known as the ‘Arab League‘, accounting at present for about 300 million people, or roughly the same as the United States. The purpose of this treatise is to introduce this regional organisation, to the ignorant reader in order to give a better understanding of what the Arab League is and what it was meant to be. To achieve this, initially, the genesis of the Arab League will be regarded. In the following, after the short historical overview, the legal framework of the Arab League, the Pact of the League of Arab States, and its effects on the organisation will be described. Therein the main goals and principles, the actual organisation and structure, including the major organs and questions of membership are amplified. The third part will discuss the actual achievements of the Arab League. Concluding the main results will be summarized and a short outlook in the possible future of the League will be dared.