Union of Arab States

The Union of Arab Socialist States (Arabic: اتحاد الدول العربية الاشتراكية) is political and economic union of Middle Eastern and North African countries.

While officially an intergovernmental organization, in the practice it functions as a joint confederation. It has a common internal single market, currency, foreign relations and freedom of movement.

= Origins and Context =

Arab nationalism rose to prominence with the weakening and defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. And the idea of a united Arab world had been widely discussed and even attempted by various Arab leaders.

Following the 1947 Ba'ath revolution, Syria was the only Arab socialist republic. This left Syria in the threatful situation of being surrounded by hostile anti-communist countries.

Nevertheless, the Egyptian revolution of 1952 lead to the toppling of King Farouk, who got replaced by an Arab Socialist government. This made Syria no longer be politically isolated from its neighbors.

The nationalism characteristic of Arab nationalism, added to the threat of