17 - 23 September 1998
Issue No.395
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 17 - 23 September 1998 Issue No.395 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Who's the enemy?
I cannot understand the significance of the pact to be concluded between Turkey, Israel and Jordan. What function can such an alliance serve, now that the Cold War is over and polarisation between two superpowers is a thing of the past? The Baghdad Pact, which we refused to be party to in the '50s, was an endeavour by Western countries to rally Arab states against the Soviet Union. But against whom is the Turkish-Israeli alliance aimed? The other states in the region? If that is the case, how can Jordan have become party to this pact?
Rumour has it that Egypt was invited to join, and declined the offer. I commend and support its decision. Such an alliance can only breed animosity and create polarisation. Our relations with other countries would have to conform with the pattern dictated by the pact. Thus we would become the enemies of Turkey's enemies, such as Greece and Cyprus, and our relations with Iran would deteriorate -- not to mention the other Arab countries we would have abandoned in favour of Israel and Turkey. Pacts are an anachronism today. This is the age of economic integration, not political polarisation. We should be looking instead at how to achieve economic integration at the regional level.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy. |