Who is the Winner of Arab’s Heart and Mind?
by Marah Bukai
Editorial Letter
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, asked the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to support the partial lifting of the international sanctions imposed on Moscow, under the pretext of easing the process of resuming activities in Ukrainian ports.
This happened just one day after the Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Odessa, which is supposed to be in a temporary state of security and calm in the wake of Moscow signing the “Grain Agreement” in Istanbul that will facilitate the resumption of exports from Ukrainian ports.
The statement came from the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where Lavrov delivered Moscow’s speech at the Arab League headquarters, in an attempt to break the global siege imposed on Russia following its invasion of an independent, sovereign neighboring country.
Unfortunately, Egypt offered the platform for this attempt.
The timing of Lavrov’s visit to Cairo, just one week after the wrap-up of both Jeddah and Tehran summits, is not innocent by all means! However, it sends contradictive signals that could play in favor of Russia but never the Arab world’s interest.
it is obvious that Jeddah Summit did not result in any concrete progress in terms of the foreign relations of the Arab countries, specifically with regard to Arab-American relations, which reached a state of tangible disharmony with the arrival of the Democratic administration at the White House under the leadership of President Biden who drew the tactical exit from the Middle East, before he had to “correct the mistake” – as he stated- and return to it from the Saudi gate.
The Tehran summit, which I call the “enemy brothers” gathering, was not better in terms of its political outcomes, and no more than a quick response to Biden’s visit to the region, and a loud visual statement: “Hey! We are here!” As for the position on Syria, the summit did not bring any new ideas except the agreement of the three leaders to keep Bashar l-Assad in power for now and try to “patch” his regime with some “gray opposition figures”, who do not mind sharing with Assad the throne of skulls he built for himself and entourage in Damascus.
I do not really know what made Egyptian officials take this step and host Lavrov at this level in a gesture of “Show Off”! it is an opportunity that should not be made possible for Russia while continuing to wage an unprecedented and unjustified war against Ukraine, an independent state and a member of the United Nations. However, this massive war with its consequences and repercussions on global stability and security is not far from danger the Arab League’s countries at all.
Make no mistake that “political realism, which is a “trend” in modern political terms, is the key to the consensus and even the new alliances that are emerging on the ruins of Russia’s war on Ukraine and Syria, then this realism must not collide with human justice, which is the core and stable of political performance. Rather, it is the moral mission that decision-makers must enjoy while exercising their duties in their political position.
Whoever ignores the continuous influence of the United States in the world and considers it as a “country in fall” is making a great mistake!
The lack of such a futurist vision could lead to actions based on a degree of “political realism” similar to the one that helped the survival of dictators such as Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad. Yet, such a realism may also be a tactical mistake, made this time by Arab countries, that could be equal to Biden’s mistake in distancing himself from the Middle East, even much more harmful.