An Arab League With Teeth?

Should the Arab League of nations be able to punish its misbehaving members ?

Spot the troublemaker. (Photo: Alhayat)

Yesterday, the Saudi Foreign Minister came up with an interesting idea: Arab league members who ignore the League’s decisions should be punished.

Of course, the Saudi diplomat in chief was not trying to propose revolutionary reforms that would create a stronger, more respectable Arab league. He was just upset with Syria and wanted to find a way to punish it for not allowing Lebanon to elect a President. But don’t worry, expect the idea to die soon.

Still, Mr. Faysal was up to something. Regulations, and more importantly their enforcement, are the cornerstone of any self-respecting polity that wishes to establish authority and consequently, influence. Imagine an Arab league that can come up with chapter-7 decisions where the erring member can risk a full Arab economic boycott. How awesome would that be?

But then again, who are we kidding? Arabs just don’t do rule of law. But who knows? Miracles have happened before and perhaps the Iranian threat can finally get them together to take this bitter pill..