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November 1971
EGYPT'S ANWAR SADAT
Jikely, the Federation's area would cover
sorne
2,105,022
square miles, making it
the world's
seventh Jargest
nation in
area. lts 58 million population would
make it the
fourleenth
most pop–
ulous,
(1970
estimates) compnsrng
about half the population of the Arab
world. Extending over half of the Med–
iterranean and two thirds of the Red
Sea coasts, it will also be strategicalJy
Jocated along a major trading artery.
And the Federation could grow even
larger.
Potential Candidates for
Membership
The Federation has an open-door
policy, extending invitations to other
Arab countries to join.
Even though "revolutionary" states,
such as Iraq and Algeria have not ex–
pressed any desire for entry, one has to
bear in mind that a new goverrunent in
favor of joining could spring up
overnigbt.
If
those two countries were to join,
then the picture would drastically
change. Algeria is nearly as big as all
the U. S. east of the Mississippi, cov–
ering an area of
920,000
square miles.
Three fourths of its
14
million people
earn their living from the land.
lt
also
has vast reserves of oil and gas - Al-
The
PLAlN TRUTH
SYRIA'S HAFEZ EL ASSAD
geria was the world's eleventh leading
producer of
oil
in
1970.
Combined with
libya they supply a hefty proportion of
Europe's vital oil needs. Algeria's
armed forces numbering
57,000
are
now being expanded and modernized
witb the help of the Soviet Union.
Iraq is potentially rich in resources
with an abundance of rivers and agri–
cultura! land. Its army is Soviet trained
and supplied.
It
could well become the
dominant Arab power on the Persian
Gulf - another vital oil-providing area
of the world.
Islam, a Unifying Force
Islam can become a powerful politi–
cal-religious force, binding these Arab
nations together into a unit with a com–
mon world outlook. But this outlook
goes further than the Arab states. The
Moslem faith penetrates the Balkans,
stretches across the width of North Af–
rica and into the Philippines and Indo–
nesia. The religious influence of the
Middle East could be far wider than its
geographicaJ center of gravity.
In past ages, the Islamic empire was
a world power. After the death of Mo–
harruned, the Islamic conquest went far
beyond Arabia. One century after the
prophet's death, the Moslems swept
across the entirety of North Africa, into
17
Wide World Pholos
LIBYA'S MUAMMAR QADDAFI
Spain and Southern France. Toward
the east, Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia
and Persia fell before "the mighty
sword of Allah."
The Arabs have not forgotten the
past glories of Islam, the time when
they were the world's super power. l t is
no wonder that they desire to revive
their glorious past. But can such a
power be revived
?
The two greatest argurnents for Arab
unity are: a common language and reli–
gion. However, if this argurnent were
valid per se, then all the Christian
countries should unite. Or aH those, Jet
us say, speaking the Spanisb language.
It
is very obvious that language and reli–
gion - though powerful unifying factors
- do not always accomplish the goal of
unity. Yet there doesn't seem to be any
otber common unifying factor between
the various Arab countries - unless it
would be the
commerciai
factor of oil.
Egypt Benefits Most
There are many economic benefits of
the present Federation, with ead1 of the
component states complementing the
others. libya's
$2.2
billion a year in oil
revenues, which gives it the second–
highest per capita income in the Arab
world, could provide capital for indus–
trial development. Syria could supply its