Arab National Security Strategy in a Changing Regional Environment: Transforming Regional Order

Abstract

This research paper aims to clarify the concept and formulation of Arab national security. Since the mid-1970s, Arab thinkers and researchers in political thought have increasingly sought to formulate a unified concept of Arab national security. During this period, research and studies intensified in Arab universities, political science institutes, and social studies centers to provide a comprehensive definition of this concept. This study emphasizes the close link between security and the social, economic, and political conditions in the region.

This research aims to clarify the concept of Arab national security, while examining the diverse threats it faces at both the internal and international levels. It also assesses the current state of Arab national security and proposes a framework to guide its development. The study adopts a descriptive methodology, drawing on periodicals, books, dissertations, and previous research.

The findings indicate that Arab national security faces a growing set of internal threats, including political instability, terrorism, the Zionist occupation of Palestine, food insecurity, water scarcity, and weak military and security coordination among Arab countries. As we have noted, external threats, the constraints imposed by US policy, the decline in the influence of Arab states in international affairs compared to Israel, and globalization, were also addressed, as were the challenges facing Arab cultural security.

Accordingly, this research recommends intensifying collective security and military efforts among all Arab states, including the exchange and formulation of regional security plans, strengthening the armed forces of all Arab states within a framework similar to an Arab NATO, developing an Arab arms industry, and reforming the education system with a focus on cybersecurity and digital sciences to support the strategic security objectives of Arab states.

The study also highlights that Arab political thought has not yet produced a comprehensive and widely accepted formulation of Arab national security capable of confronting the rapidly changing dynamics in the Middle East and the global security environment. Given the rise and spread of terrorist organizations in the region, the study emphasizes the urgent need for a cohesive Arab force under unified leadership to effectively counter these threats and ensure the security and stability of Arab states.