Editing Arab world (section)

==States and territories==
For the states and territories constituting the Arab world, see definition above.

===Forms of government===
[[File:Arab_League_Summit,_1964.jpg|thumb|Arab leaders during the [[1964 Arab League summit (Cairo)|first Arab league summit in Cairo (1964)]]]]
Different forms of [[government]] are represented in the Arab World: Some of the countries are [[monarchy|monarchies]]: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The other Arab countries are all [[republic]]s. With the exception of Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, and recently{{When|date=July 2023}} Mauritania, democratic elections throughout the Arab World are generally viewed as compromised, due to outright vote rigging, intimidation of opposition parties, and severe restraints on civil liberties and political dissent.

After [[World War II]], [[Pan-Arabism]] sought to unite all Arabic-speaking countries into one political entity. Only [[Syria]], [[Iraq]], [[Egypt]], [[Sudan]], [[Tunisia]], [[Libya]] and [[Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen|North Yemen]] considered the short-lived unification of the [[United Arab Republic]]. Historical divisions, competing local nationalisms, and geographical sprawl were major reasons for the failure of Pan-Arabism. [[Arab Nationalism]] was another strong force in the region which peaked during the mid-20th century and was professed by many leaders in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. Arab Nationalist leaders of this period included [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of Egypt, [[Ahmed Ben Bella]] of Algeria, [[Michel Aflaq]], [[Salah al-Din al-Bitar]], [[Zaki al-Arsuzi]], [[Constantin Zureiq]] and [[Shukri al-Kuwatli]] of Syria, [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]] of Iraq, [[Habib Bourguiba]] of Tunisia, [[Mehdi Ben Barka]] of Morocco, and [[Shakib Arslan]] of Lebanon.

Later and current Arab Nationalist leaders include [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] of Libya, [[Hafez al-Assad]] and [[Bashar al-Assad]] of Syria. The diverse Arab states generally maintained close ties but distinct national identities developed and strengthened with the social, historical and political realities of the past 60 years. This has made the idea of a pan-Arab nation-state increasingly less feasible and likely. Additionally, an upsurge in political Islam has since led to a greater emphasis on pan-Islamic rather than pan-Arab identity amongst some [[Arab Muslims]]<!-- and/or non-Arab Muslims too? -->. Arab nationalists who once opposed Islamic movements as a threat to their power, now deal with them differently for reasons of political reality.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arab Nationalism: Mistaken Identity by Martin Kramer |url=http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/ArabNationalism.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025064830/http://geocities.com/martinkramerorg/ArabNationalism.htm |archive-date=25 October 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

===Modern boundaries===
Many of the modern borders of the Arab World were drawn by [[Europe]]an imperial powers during the 19th and early 20th century. However, some of the larger states (in particular [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]]) have historically maintained geographically definable boundaries, on which some of the modern states are roughly based. The 14th-century Egyptian historian [[Al-Maqrizi]], for instance, defines Egypt's boundaries as extending from the [[Mediterranean]] in the north to lower [[Nubia]] in the south; and between the [[Red Sea]] in the east and the oases of the Western/[[Libyan desert]]. The modern borders of Egypt, therefore, are not a creation of European powers, and are at least in part based on historically definable entities which are in turn based on certain cultural and ethnic identifications.

At other times, kings, [[emir]]s or [[sheikh]]s were placed as semi-autonomous rulers over the newly created [[nation state]]s, usually chosen by the same imperial powers that for some drew the new borders, for services rendered to European powers like [[the British Empire]], e.g. [[Sherif Hussein ibn Ali]]. Many African states did not attain independence until the 1960s from France after bloody insurgencies for their freedom. These struggles were settled by the imperial powers approving the form of independence given, so as a consequence almost all of these borders have remained. Some of these borders were agreed upon without consultation of those individuals that had served the colonial interests of Britain or France. One such agreement solely between Britain and France (to the exclusion of Sherif Hussein ibn Ali), signed in total secrecy until [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] released the full text, was the [[Sykes-Picot Agreement]]. Another influential document written without the consensus of the local population was the [[Balfour Declaration]].

As former director of the Israeli intelligence agency [[Mossad]], Efraim Halevy, now a director at the Hebrew University said,

{{blockquote|The borders, which if you look on the maps of the middle-east are very straight lines, were drawn by British and French draftsmen who sat with maps and drew the lines of the frontiers with rulers. If the ruler for some reason or other moved on the map, because of some person's hand shaking, then the frontier moved (with the hand).<ref name="lawac2004">{{cite web |url=http://www.lawac.org/speech/2004-05/Halevy%202005.pdf |url-status=dead |date=16 April 2015 |title=Winds of Change in the Middle East |last=Halevy |first=Efraim |publisher=Los Angeles World Affairs Council |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206212247/http://www.lawac.org/speech/2004-05/Halevy%202005.pdf |archive-date=6 December 2010 }}</ref>}}

He went on to give an example,
{{blockquote|There was a famous story about a British consul, a lady named [[Gertrude Bell]] who drew the map between Iraq and Jordan, using transparent paper. She turned to talk to somebody and as she was turning the paper moved and the ruler moved and that added considerable territory to the (new) Jordanians.<ref name="lawac2004"/>}}

Historian Jim Crow, of [[Newcastle University]], has said:

{{blockquote|Without that imperial carve-up, Iraq would not be in the state it is in today...Gertrude Bell was one of two or three Britons who were instrumental in the creation of the Arab states in the Middle East that were favourable to Britain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sundayherald.com/31563 |date=3 January 2016 |title=Games With Frontiers |work=Sunday Herald |last=Royle |first=Trevor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030307134402/http://www.sundayherald.com/31563 |archive-date=7 March 2003 |df=dmy }}</ref>}}

===Modern economies===
[[File:Cairo-Nile-2020(1).jpg|alt=Cairo-Nile-2020(1)|thumb|[[Cairo]], the capital of [[Egypt]]]]
As of 2006, the Arab world accounts for two-fifths of the gross domestic product and three-fifths of the trade of the wider [[Muslim world]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

The Arab states are mostly, although not exclusively, developing economies and derive their export revenues from oil and gas, or the sale of other raw materials. Recent years have seen significant economic growth in the Arab World, due largely to an increase in oil and gas prices, which tripled between 2001 and 2006, but also due to efforts by some states to diversify their economic base. Industrial production has risen, for example the amount of steel produced between 2004 and 2005 rose from 8.4 to 19 million tonnes. (Source: Opening speech of Mahmoud Khoudri, [[Algeria]]'s Industry Minister, at the 37th General Assembly of the Iron & Steel Arab Union, Algiers, May 2006). However even 19 million tons pa still only represents 1.7% of global steel production, and remains inferior to the production of countries like [[Brazil]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldsteel.org |title=World Steel Association – Home |publisher=Worldsteel.org |access-date=17 October 2011}}</ref>

The main economic organisations in the Arab World are the [[Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)]], comprising the states in the Persian Gulf, and the Union of the Arab Maghreb (UMA), made up of North African States. The GCC has achieved some success in financial and monetary terms, including plans to establish a common currency in the Persian Gulf region. Since its foundation in 1989, the UMA's most significant accomplishment has been the establishment of a 7,000&nbsp;km highway crossing North Africa from [[Mauritania]] to [[Libya]]'s border with [[Egypt]]. The central stretch of the highway, expected to be completed in 2010, will cross [[Morocco]], [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]]. In recent years a new term has been coined to define a greater economic region: the [[MENA]] region, standing for "Middle East and North Africa", is becoming increasingly popular, especially with support from the current US administration.[[File:Dubai Marina Skyline.jpg|thumb|The [[Emirate of Dubai]] is one of the seven emirates of the [[United Arab Emirates]]]]As of August 2009 it was reported that Saudi Arabia is the strongest Arab economy according to World Bank.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.infoprod.co.il/article/2/283|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130182205/http://www.infoprod.co.il/article/2/283|url-status=dead|title=World Bank: Saudi Arabia, strongest Arab economy|archive-date=30 November 2009}}</ref>

[[Saudi Arabia]] remains the top Arab economy in terms of total GDP. It is Asia's eleventh largest economy, followed by [[Egypt]] and [[Algeria]], which were the second and third largest economies in Africa, after [[South Africa]], in 2006. In terms of GDP per capita, [[Qatar]] is the richest developing country in the world.<ref>CIA [[World Factbook]], GDP by country classification</ref>

The total GDP of all Arab countries in 1999 was US$531.2&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Lewis |first = Bernard |author-link = Bernard Lewis |title = The Crisis of Islam |publisher = [[Random House]] |year = 2004 |location = New York City |page = [https://archive.org/details/crisisofislam00bern/page/116 116] |isbn = 978-0-8129-6785-2 |title-link = The Crisis of Islam }}</ref> The total Arab world GDP was estimated to be worth at least $2.8&nbsp;trillion in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/05/147980.html |title=Poking at the Beast: How much is the Arab world worth? |work=Alarabiya News |last=El-Shenawi |first=Eman |date=5 May 2011 |access-date=19 August 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511195256/http://english.alarabiya.net:80/articles/2011/05/05/147980.html |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref> This is only smaller than the GDP of the US, China, Japan and Germany.