Where are their voices of the Arab World? The flurry of news over the last few months has almost exclusively focused on UN resolutions, inspector reports, and transatlantic bickering. The run up to war with Iraq has often appeared more as a battle between the US and Europe rather than a discussion about, and with, the countries from the region where it matters most.
It’s hard to determine if the Arab leaders are choosing to remain silent, or if they’re simply being elbowed aside by the bullies at the Security Council; but either way, it’s clear they’ve been struggling to reach a consensus of their own. Just this morning, the Arab League finally agreed to a special summit next month to discuss the crisis over Baghdad. Appropriate enough, but perhaps too late to be heard, and perhaps, that’s on purpose.
Guests:
Fawaz Gerges, Christian A. Johnson Chairholder in International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies at Sarah Lawrence College
Saad Hattar, BBC Correspondent in Jordan
Mona Makram Ebeid, professor of Political Science and American Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo, and founding member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights.