March 25, 2004

Jordan Times

The Road Taken

Editorial

  
Next week's Arab summit in Tunis will, again, have many thorny issues on its agenda.

With the Iraqi conflict still burning and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict fuelled to an unprecedented intensity by the targeted assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the Arab heads of state have a mighty task in trying to defuse the alarming state of affairs present in the Arab world.

The Arab countries are literally at a dangerous crossroads. The route they choose to take will impact not only the Arab nation but the international community as well.

The Arab peoples will settle for nothing less than effective measures from their respective governments in addressing the Iraqi and Palestinian problems. They will no longer accept rhetoric or abstract ideas on how to deal with these challenges. Their patience has run thin.

Arabs everywhere expect real solutions now and coherent strategies for dealing with the problems that have been gnawing away at attempts at development and progress, Arab economic integration, and a host of proposals to spur the Arab world into partnerships that would secure social, economic, educational, scientific and cultural advancement.

These curtailed endeavours are intertwined with the issue of reforms across the Arab world. There is evidence that the various Arab capitals do not see eye-to-eye on what needs to be done to speed up the process of reforms on all levels. Some Arab countries may fear swift democratisation because their peoples have become radicalised by recent events and developments.

These daunting challenges will have to be addressed by the Arab foreign ministers meeting in advance of the start of the summit. Much is expected of the foreign ministers in setting the tone and course of the summit as one that will tackle the challenges candidly and boldly.

In light of the circumstances under which the Arab leaders meet in Tunis, a parallel meeting of Arab non-governmental organisations could also provide academic support to the Arab summit.