The Arab Summit in Algiers concludes its works

The Arab Summit in Algiers, with the slogan "Reunion", concluded its work on the evening of November 2.

This summit, the first since 2019, was subjected to many postponements, but Algeria finally succeeded in holding it, after it retreated from some of its trends that could have prevented it from being held altogether.

One of the most prominent challenges of holding the summit was Algeria's insistence on inviting the Syrian regime to attend the summit, in an Algerian attempt to search for any "achievement" recorded for the summit, and in order to prove its "independence from regional and international axes," but Algeria was faced by a categorical rejection from several Arab capitals, to find itself lonely and exposed; after it set itself a condition that it can no longer meet. This situation forced Algeria to ask the Syrian regime to declare its unwillingness to attend the summit; so that its setback would appear to be a Syrian desire, not an Algerian inability.

The "reunification" summit was not attended by a number of leaders of major Arab countries, as King Mohammed VI of Morocco was absent (and not even a word was delivered on behalf of Morocco), King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Sheikh (Mohammed bin Zayed), President of the United Arab Emirates, King Abdullah II of Jordan (who has not been absent from an Arab summit before), and Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman. In addition to the justified absences, such as that of Prince Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, the Lebanese President, and the representative of Syria.

The absences of Arab leaders were linked to successive Algerian policies, their insistence on imposing their vision regarding the summit, their attempt to interfere in issues related to other Arab countries, and their support for Iranian trends in the Arab region, in addition to their well-known political rivalry with Morocco, which ended with Algeria severing its relationship with Rabat in 2021.

The final communiqué of the summit, which Algeria was keen to call the "Algiers Declaration" in an attempt to give it local symbolic value, shows the inability of the summit to reach any qualitative decisions, as the contents of the statement with regard to the Arab region were general and mere retoric, ensuring consensus among the Arab States on the contents of the minimum, which is clearly evident in the talk about Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, for example, and the absence of any mention of Iran, for example, in the entire statement.

However, the communique reflected unusual positions regarding support for the decisions of the OPEC + group to reduce production, which is only in the interest of the oil-producing countries, and not in the interest of the consuming Arab countries, as mentioned in the communique.

It was also remarkable that the communique adopted a unified Arab position towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine, expressing the commitment of the Arab States to neutrality and calling for a political solution that takes into account the Charter of the United Nations and the security concerns of the parties concerned, a condition that implicitly justifies the Russian invasion.

This position concerning Russia and its invasion of Ukraine reflects an Algerian desire that is mainly in line with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries.

Practically speaking, the summit was normal in all its aspects, and it failed to reunite the Arabs, and it may even have perpetuated new Arab cracks, some of which were made by the recent Algerian positions, whether towards Morocco, or its interferences in the Palestinian file, and some of which were due to international data that complicated the entire regional scene.

The summit showed that the Arab countries are no longer able to work together in the Arab files, as a result of the divisions of positions and the absence of consensus on the roles of local and international actors.