A new Arab order? Regional security after the Gulf War

In the wake of the Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and Western Europe's imminent economic unification, Arab leaders, intellectuals and journalists devoted considerable energy to the need to establish a "new Arab order', within the Western dominated "new world order'. The article examines some of the recent thinking in this regard, in both the political and security fields, placing it in the historical context of the Arab state system. The article evaluates efforts to translate recent thinking into reality. These include forthright statements on the need to give primacy to raison d'etat over pan-Arab sentiment, attempts to institutionalize a new Arab order through the Damascus Declaration framework, and various proposals for conflict-management mechanisms, the rejuvenation of multilateral Arab bodies and the promotion of civil society in the Arab world. Gulf state regimes concluded that there was no alternative to even tighter links with the West in order to preserve their security. The article concludes by suggesting certain implications these developments may have for the Arab-Israeli conflict. -from Author