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Arab Foreign Policy: Why Is It So Hard for Arabs to Act Together?

(Economist-UK) The Arab response to the Darfur crisis has been fork-tongued. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt have dispatched planeloads of aid to the stricken region, but also lobbied to ensure that the UN Security Council refrained from threatening sanctions against the Sudanese regime, which is largely responsible for creating the mess. Sudan's Arab neighbors do have an interest in supporting the government in Khartoum. They do not want Iraq-style chaos next door that could ensue if it falls. But they are also exposed to public pressure to prevent another Western intrusion into Arab land. The West, insists Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, is exaggerating the humanitarian crisis to find a pretext for invasion.
2004-08-11 00:00:00
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