Arab Union

"Lā ʾilāha ʾillā Llāh, Muḥammadur rasūlu Llāh"

The **Arab Union**, officially known as the **Federation of the United Arab Republics** or the **Federated Union of Arab Republics** (arabic: اتحاد الجمهوريات العربية المتحدة) is a Federal republic consisting of 24 governorates, located in North and East Africa, the South Pacific Ocean, and the Middle East. At 5,296,453 sq mi (13,716,577 sq km) in total and with around 375 million people as of the last census in 2052, the United Arab Republic is the second largest country in total area and third largest in population.

The Arab world is at its minimum defined as the 19 states where Arabic is natively spoken. At its maximum it consists of the 22 members of the Arab League, an international organization, which on top of the 19 states also includes the Comoros, Djibouti and Somalia. The region stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The eastern part of the Arab world is known as the Mashriq, and the western part as the Maghreb.

According to the World Bank, the Arab world has a total population of 456 million inhabitants and a gross domestic product of $2.85 trillion, as of 2021. The region is nevertheless diverse in many ways, and economically includes some of the wealthiest as well as poorest populations. The region mostly corresponds with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) definition.

## History

### Origins

Beginning in 1957, Syria was close to a communist takeover of political power; it had a highly organized Communist Party and the army's chief of staff, Afif al-Bizri, was a Communist sympathizer. Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser told a Syrian delegation, including President Shukri al-Quwatli and Prime Minister Khaled al-Azem, that they needed to rid their government of communists, but the delegation countered and warned him that only total union with Egypt would end the "communist threat". According to Abdel Latif Boghdadi, Nasser resisted a total union with Syria, favoring instead a federal union. However, Nasser was afraid of a Communist takeover and agreed on a total merger. The increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party, under the leadership of Khalid Bakdash, worried the ruling Ba'ath Party, which was also suffering from an internal crisis from which prominent members were anxious to find an escape. Syria had a democratic government since the overthrow of Adib al-Shishakli's military regime in 1954, and popular pressure for Arab unity was reflected in the composition of parliament.

When Bizri led a second Syrian delegation composed of military officers on January 11, 1958, and personally discouraged Syro-Egyptian unity, Nasser opted for a total merger. Only Syrian advocates of unity, including Salah al-Din Bitar and Akram El-Hourani had prior knowledge of the delegation; Quwatli and Azem were notified a day later and considered it tantamount to a "military coup". Established on February 1, 1958, as a first step towards a pan-Arab state, the UAR was created when a group of political and military leaders in Syria proposed a merger of the two states to Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Pan-Arab sentiment was very strong in Syria, and Nasser was a popular hero-figure throughout the Arab world following the Suez War of 1956. There was thus considerable popular support in Syria for union with Nasser's Egypt. The protocols were signed by leading Egyptian and Syrian officials, although Azem did so reluctantly. Nasser became the republic's president and very soon carried out a crackdown against the Syrian Communists and opponents of the union which included dismissing Bizri and Azem from their posts.

Nasser's final terms were decisive and non-negotiable: “a plebiscite, the dissolution of parties, and the withdrawal of the army from politics”. While the plebiscite seemed reasonable to most Syrian elites, the latter two conditions were extremely worrisome. They believed it would destroy political life in Syria. Despite these concerns, the Syrian officials knew it was too late to turn back.

### Early History

The members of the elite in Syria viewed the merger with Egypt as the lesser of two evils. They believed that Nasser's terms were unfair, but given the immense pressure that their government was undergoing, they believed that they had no choice. Despite these concerns, they believed that Nasser would use the Ba'ath as the primary method of controlling Syria. Unfortunately for the Ba'ath, it was never Nasser's intention to share an equal measure of power. Nasser established a new provisional constitution proclaiming a 600-member National Assembly with 400 members from Egypt and 200 from Syria, and the disbanding of all political parties, including the Ba'ath. Nasser gave each of the provinces two vice-presidents, assigning Boghdadi and Abdel Hakim Amer to Egypt and Sabri al-Assali and Akram El-Hourani — a leader of the Ba'ath — to Syria. The new constitution of 1958 was adopted.﻿

Though Nasser allowed former Ba'ath members to hold prominent political positions, they never reached positions as high in the government as did the Egyptian officials. During the winter and the spring of 1959 - 60, Nasser slowly squeezed prominent Syrians out of positions of influence. In the Syrian Ministry of Industry, for example, seven of the top thirteen positions were filled by Egyptians. In the General Petroleum Authority, four of the top six officials were Egyptian. In the fall of 1958, Nasser formed a tripartite committee, consisting of Zakaria Mohieddine, al-Hawrani, and Bitar to oversee the affairs in Syria. By moving the latter two, both Ba'athists, to Cairo, he neutralized important political figures who had their own ideas about how Syria should be run within the UAR.

In Syria, opposition to union with Egypt mounted. Syrian Army officers resented being subordinate to Egyptian officers, and Syrian Bedouin tribes received money from Saudi Arabia to prevent them from becoming loyal to Nasser. Also, Egyptian-style land reform was resented for damaging Syrian agriculture, the Communists began to gain influence, and the intellectuals of the Ba'ath who supported the Union rejected the single-party system. Nasser was not able to address problems in Syria completely, because they were new to him, and instead of appointing Syrians to run Syria, he assigned this position to Amer. In Egypt, the situation was more positive, with a GNP growth of 4.5% and a rapid growth of industry. In 1960, Nasser nationalized the Egyptian press, reducing it to his personal mouthpiece.

### Nationalization

In June 1960, Nasser tried to establish economic reforms that would bring the Syrian economy more in line with the exceedingly strong Egyptian public sector. Unfortunately, these changes did little to help either economy. Rather than shift growth toward the private sector, Nasser embarked on an unprecedented wave of nationalizations in both Syria and Egypt. These began in July 1961, without consulting top Syrian economic officials.

The entire cotton trade was taken over by the government, as well as all import-export firms. On July 23, 1961, Nasser announced the nationalization of banks, insurance companies, and all heavy industry. Nasser also extended his social justice principles. The land limit was reduced from 200 to 100 feddans. Interest rates for farmers were dramatically reduced to the point of elimination in some cases. A ninety percent tax was instituted on all income above £10,000. Workers and employees were allowed representatives on management boards. They were also given the right to a twenty-five percent share in the profit of their firm. The average workday was also cut from eight hours to seven without a reduction in pay.

### The 1962 Constitution

With pressure mounting on all sides to repeal the massive public sector-oriented economic reforms, Nasser agrees to repeal the land limits that had been hurting Syrian agriculture, and to lower the top income tax rate from 90% to 75%. Although these were well received, they were looked upon by many as a pathetic attempt to appease his people.

Fearing that this opposition to these reforms could easily spell disaster for the union, Nasser reluctantly held a constitutional convention in Alexandria in February of 1962, attended by the outlawed Ba'ath Party, the dissolved Arab Socialist Union, and citizen representatives. After much discourse, the three parties agreed to a new constitution, featuring these reforms:

* The total union is to be reformed to a confederation.
* Political parties belonging to Nasserist, Ba'athist and/or Secularist ideologies are to be decriminalized and allowed to participate in elections.
* National Assembly is to be an elected legislature, with 100 assemblymen from each state, each elected to unlimited 5 year terms starting with an election the same year of the constitution's creation.
* The states are to be renamed governorates.
* The President is to be elected to a maxiumum of 3 5 year terms, starting with an election in 1965.
* Governorates are to be ruled by an appointed governor, with an elected one after their locally decided term length ends.

These democratic reforms were celebrated throughout the country, and Nasser had regained his popularity in the Arab world.

## Politics and government

The United Arab Republic is formally a federal republic, divided into three regions (أقطار *ʾaqṭār*, singular قطر *quṭr*): Egypt, Syria and the Sudan. However, the regions are only nominal as the 1971 Constitution provides greater autonomous authority to the governorates (محافظات *muḥāfaẓāt*, singular محافظة *muḥāfaẓah*) directly below the regions. The head of state and government of the United Arab Republic is President, which directly elected by the people every five years and can be re-elected for the second term. The legislature of the UAR, the National Assembly is unicameral and responsible for passing laws, approving government appropriations and debating policy.

The executive branch consists of the President (رئيس الجمهورية *Raʾīs al-Jumhūriyya*), two Vice Presidents, and the Council of Ministers. The constitution provides the president the right to appoint ministers, to declare war and state of emergency, to declare amnesty, to ratify treaties, to issue laws when the Assembly is in recess and exercise necessary powers in times of emergencies. The President also shares powers with the Council of Ministers in which they together formulate the state's general policy and oversee its implementation.

The legislative branch of the UAR is the unicameral National Assembly (الجمعية الوطنية *al-Jamʿiyya al-Waṭaniyya*). The Assembly is consisted of 503 seats (312 from Egypt, 91 from Syria and 100 from the Sudan) which are directly elected by the people to serve a five-year term. The Assembly enacts laws, approves the general policy of the State, the general plan for economic and social development and the general budget of the State, supervises the work of the government, and has the power to vote to impeach the President of the Republic by a majority of two-third of all members.

The judicial branch of the UAR is composed of the civil and criminal courts, military courts, security courts, and religious courts, which adjudicate matters of personal status such as divorce and inheritance. There are three levels of courts in the UAR: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. Islamic jurisprudence is the principal source of legislation, but the legal code is derived largely from the Napoleonic Code. Religious courts, which run and licensed by the Ministry of Justice, handle questions of personal and family law. Marriage and personal status are primarily based on the religious law of the individual concerned.

## Politics and government

The United Arab Republic is formally a federal republic, divided into three regions (أقطار *ʾaqṭār*, singular قطر *quṭr*): Egypt, Syria and the Sudan. However, the regions are only nominal as the 1971 Constitution provides greater autonomous authority to the governorates (محافظات *muḥāfaẓāt*, singular محافظة *muḥāfaẓah*) directly below the regions. The head of state and government of the United Arab Republic is President, which directly elected by the people every five years and can be re-elected for the second term. The legislature of the UAR, the National Assembly is unicameral and responsible for passing laws, approving government appropriations and debating policy.

The executive branch consists of the President (رئيس الجمهورية *Raʾīs al-Jumhūriyya*), two Vice Presidents, and the Council of Ministers. The constitution provides the president the right to appoint ministers, to declare war and state of emergency, to declare amnesty, to ratify treaties, to issue laws when the Assembly is in recess and exercise necessary powers in times of emergencies. The President also shares powers with the Council of Ministers in which they together formulate the state's general policy and oversee its implementation.

The legislative branch of the UAR is the unicameral National Assembly (الجمعية الوطنية *al-Jamʿiyya al-Waṭaniyya*). The Assembly is consisted of 503 seats (312 from Egypt, 91 from Syria and 100 from the Sudan) which are directly elected by the people to serve a five-year term. The Assembly enacts laws, approves the general policy of the State, the general plan for economic and social development and the general budget of the State, supervises the work of the government, and has the power to vote to impeach the President of the Republic by a majority of two-third of all members.

The judicial branch of the UAR is composed of the civil and criminal courts, military courts, security courts, and religious courts, which adjudicate matters of personal status such as divorce and inheritance. There are three levels of courts in the UAR: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. Islamic jurisprudence is the principal source of legislation, but the legal code is derived largely from the Napoleonic Code. Religious courts, which run and licensed by the Ministry of Justice, handle questions of personal and family law. Marriage and personal status are primarily based on the religious law of the individual concerned.

## Politics

### Government

The Arab government operates under a democratic presidential federal republican system which has been codified in the 1968 constitution. The system has taken influence from both the American and French constitutions, with a strong federal system where each of the nations states are given significant autonomy. The President is the head of the armed forces and the military. The federation also took the secular principles from the French political tradition and from Kemalism. The Speaker of the Central Assembly is the closest thing to a Prime Minister, being elected by a majority vote in the Assembly. The president can be impeached through a parliamentary and senatorial supermajority of two thirds in both houses for "High Crimes, Unpresidential Actions and Misdemeanors". In the case of the President dying or being impeached from office the Vice President is next in line, followed by the Speaker of the Central Assembly and then by the chosen ministerial successors.

### Human Rights

The Arab Federation has universal suffrage for every citizen over the age of 22. It guarantees the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion, speech and assembly. The nation also gives the right to "national autonomy", this being particularly important for the Kurdish dominated northern provinces although questions about the true legal extent of the right is unclear and untested. Homosexuality is decriminalised in the Arab Federation and alongside Albania and Qazakhstan are considered to have the most liberal laws and attitudes when it comes to same-sex relations in the Muslim world.

### Economy

The Arab economy is considered a recently developed Higher Income Economy and is one of the most diversified in the Middle East. Despite this it still requires heavily on income from petroleum and gas exports. It has a recently developed tourist economy, mainly tourists from Japan, China, Korea, the UK, France, Russia and the USA. The Arab Federation also gives energy to its neighbours, building pipeline to Jordan and Israel. They funded a railway between Tel Aviv and Tehran, connecting all three nations on an economic level as well as all three nations having political connectivity through their UES membership, due to the Arab Federation and Iran being UES Associate members and Israel being a full UES member. The Arab currency, the Arab Federal Dinar, is pegged to the Euro due to the Federation having such close economic links to the UES. The Arab Federation has access to the UES single market through it being an Associate member.

### Parties

The Arab Federation runs on a multi-party system, six parties gaining a large vote share in the Federal elections. Most of these parties being those founded by Qudsi in his initial decriminalisation of non-socialist opponents. Other parties exist outside the main six but are not successful. The first, in no particular order, is A) the Arab Socialist Party, originally the sole legal party until 1963. The ASP officially believes in Arab Socialism, promoting the expansion of the Federation into other Arab countries, such as claiming areas of Saudi Arabia. They are pro-European on a primarily pragmatic basis as well as on an economic basis. Its ideology was formerly hardline socialism but it currently views itself as a social democratic, democratic socialist and centre-left wing party . B) the Liberal Democratic Union, is a secular liberal party and one of the initial six legalised. They support free trade and are generally opposed to the influence of religion on politics. They tend to support civil rights, women's rights and have a small but vocal same-sex right's advocacy They support the UES while at the same time supporting détente with the US and China. It is a centrist party with centre-right and centre-left factions C) Arab Federal Conservative Party, formed out of two of the legalised six parties, the Federal party and the conservative party. They are pro-federalism and support devolution to states. They also advocate for direct democracy along the lines of Switzerland. They have strands of social and religious conservatism. It is a centre-right to right-wing party. D) Arab Green Movement, one of the original six legalised parties. They are a green environmentalist party which focuses on maintaining the environment and keeping pollution to a minimum. They oppose the current rentier state status of the Arab Federation. It is a broadly left wing party and the second smallest. E) New Faith Party, originally called the Faith Party and was one of the original six legalised. They are a religious and social conservative party which takes their influence from the Christian Democratic movement in Europe and the Islamic democratic movement in North Africa F) National Arab Socialist Union - Damascus Faction, the Arab socialist party which is backed by the UAR and is the most successful party outside of the original six. It supports Arab socialism, but is distinctly more extreme and pro-Chinese. They support the Arab Federation joining the UAR. It is a far-left party.

### Military

With an active manpower of nearly half-a-million by 2023, the **Arabian Armed Forces** were further bolstered by a paramilitary force of 205,000, with Iraqis comprising nearly two-thirds of this number. A vast majority of the country's 22,000 tanks and armored vehicles come from Jordan and Syria, while two-thirds of the 1,268 self-propelled guns also come from these states.

While possessing 1,144 aircraft, 268 of which were fighters and 64 were dedicated attack aircraft, with 26 special-mission units, 509 helicopters and 111 attack helicopters, the Arabian Navy was a paltry 163 ships, 154 of which were patrol vessels. Although it possessed with 8th largest and around 10th strongest air force, its fleet was lacking, with minimal power projection and function beyond coastal defense.

Arabia had the 10th largest standing army, the 3rd largest fleet of tanks (behind Russia and the U.S. and just ahead of North Korea), the 4th largest force of armored fighting vehicles (behind the U.S., China and Russia), 5th largest collection of self-propelled guns (behind Russia, China, South Korea and the United States) and the 8th largest fleet of aircraft (behind the U.S., Russia, China, India, ROK, Japan and Pakistan while ahead of Egypt), with the 10th largest fleet of fighters/interceptors. Arabia was a military armed and equipped to do battle on multiple fronts simultaneously, while being one of the most powerful armed forces on the planet.

The military of Arabia is very unique, and adopts Swiss, Japanese, American and Dixie military doctrine. While Arabia does have a federal force, the homeland defense is an emphasized responbility of the governments of each Republic or Principality themselves according to the Confederation Constitution.

Each Republic and Principality maintains a defense budget independant from the central government. Therefore, this totals the total personnel of what can be considered the Arabian military to be more than 7 million, officially making it the world's largest military if regarded as a single military force, while the federal forces number only around 800,000 personnel.

In some republics, such as Najran, Riyadh, Tabuk and principalities such as Ard-Jamila, serving in the State Army is mandatory, and/or heavily encouraged. In republics or principalities were it is heavily encouraged, veterans enjoy free housing, healthcare and top-priority status in employment and education.

In some republics and principalities, gun ownership by citizens is considered a right, similarly to the Second Amendment enjoyed by citizens of the United States, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, New Guinea and considered a part of the local culture like in Yemen and Pakistan.

### Foreign Relations

The Arab Federation is a full member of the DTO and is an associate state of the UES. It is part of the Middle Eastern Cold War, holding strong relations with the European allied states of Jordan, Israel and Iran. They are a member of the Organisation de La Francophonie and has stable relations with most Francophone states. The Federation is party to the New Mediterranean Democratic Dialogue and co-ordinates with other European allied Mediterranean states like Tunisia and Israel. The Arab Federation is a member of the Arab League. The Arab Federation has hostile relations with autocratic and heavily religious states in the Middle East.

## Demographics

### Language

Arabic, Kurdish and French are the three official languages of the Arab Federation. Arabic is the language spoken by 64% of the Arab Federation's population as a first language, with 97% speaking it as a secondary language. 33% of the nation's population speak Kurdish as a first language and 59% speak Kurdish as a secondary language, Kurdish is also spoken mainly in the north of the country. French is spoken by less then 1% of the population as a first language and is spoken as a second language by around 25% of the population.

## Culture

### Education

Primary and secondary education is free in the Arab Federation. Some colleges are tuition free, especially those in the cities of Damascus, Mosul and Baghdad. Since the Al-Qudsi presidency women have been given extra funding to go to schools.