This article examines why the Arab states, via regional organizations like the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council, have struggled to foster meaningful collaboration between their member states, particularly during moments of regional crisis. It argues that the reason for weak regionalism in the Middle East and North Africa is that Arab states view other Arab states as the primary threats to their sovereignty. Due to the existence of pan-national and sub-national identities across the region, there is a persistent fear among states that: (A) they might become subsumed by their larger neighbours (such as in the case of Iraq and Kuwait in the 1990’s); or (B) that the state might collapse due to the emboldenment of sub-national ethno-religious groups (such as in the cases of Lebanon and Syria during their respective civil wars). Because of the deep-seated nature of mistrust and competition between Arab states, they are less inclined to engage in more comprehensive forms of inter-state cooperation due primarily to fears that such policies could undermine state sovereignty. Hence, the Arab states have routinely demonstrated a preference in seeking security guarantees with foreign powers at the expense of regional solidarity. Here, pan-national identities refers to Pan-Arab and Pan-Islamist ideologies, and their respective political movements, that threaten to subsume weaker states from the outside. Meanwhile, sub-national refers to independence movements, such as the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen, or local militia movements like Hezbollah, which threaten the internal disintegration of states.
In order to demonstrate the weakness of regional initiatives in the Middle East, this article shall first outline a theoretical framework by which to analyse the behaviour of Arab states, drawing upon concepts such as Structural Realism, Constructivism, and the ‘weak state, strong regime’ paradox. It shall then examine a variety of historical case studies to demonstrate the efficacy of this framework. This article will focus primarily on events spanning from 2011 until the present, including: the intra-GCC disputes between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in 2021, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in 2026; the Syrian civil war; and the Lebanese state’s attempts at disarming Hezbollah while Israel remains in occupation of Southern Lebanon.
