Pan-Arabism

Pan-Arabism is a movement for unification among the Arab peoples and nations of the Middle East. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism. Pan-Arabism has tended to be both secular, socialist, with a current of anti-Westernism.

Though its origins can be traced to the anti-Imperialist nationalist movement among Arab peoples preceding World War I, a more formalized pan-Arab ideology was first espoused in the 1940s in Syria by Michel Aflaq, a founder of the Ba'ath (Renaissance) Party, combining elements of both socialism and Italian fascism. A pan-Arab ideology lay at the basis of various attempts over the past fifty years to unite various Arab nation-states, most notably the short-lived United Arab Republic, which united Egypt and Syria, thus encompassing Sunni, Shia, Druze, and Christian Arabs, among others. In contrast to pan-Islamism, Pan-Arabism is primarily secular and many prominent Pan-Arabs, such as Aflaq himself were non-Muslims. Similarly, Tariq Aziz, a Christian and the deputy prime minister of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, was another prominent pan-Arabist.

The Syrian government is, and the former government of Iraq was, led by the Ba'ath Party, which espouses pan-Arabism. The high point of the pan-Arab movement was in the 1960's, but pan-Arabism was strongly hurt by the Arab defeat by Israel in the Six Day War and the inability of pan-Arabist governments to generate economic growth. By the 1980's, pan-Arabism began to be eclipsed by Islamist ideologies.