Military of the Arab League

The Arab League as an organization has no military force, like the United Nations or the European Union, but recently in the 2007 summit, the Leaders decided to reactivate their joint defense and establish a peacekeeping force to deploy in South Lebanon, Darfur, Iraq, Somalia, and other hot spots.

History

ALA on parade. 1948

The military history of the Arab League is closely linked to the Arab–Israeli conflict. The 1950 Arab Joint Security Pact set out provisions for collective security among the Arab states, but only in 1961 was the Joint Arab Command (JAC) proposed as a unified military command for the Arab League first by the Joint Defence Council, an institution of the Arab League.

Before the JAC could take shape, a unanimous resolution was passed at the first Arab League summit (January 1964) establishing the United Arab Command (UAC), although the UAC's inactivity following the Samu Incident (1966) and during the Six-Day War (1967) signalled its de facto dissolution.

Arab Liberation Army

The Arab Liberation Army (جيش الإنقاذ العربي Jaysh al-Inqadh al-Arabi), also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji. It fought on the Arab side in the 1948 Palestine war and was set up by the Arab League as a counter to the Arab High Committee's Holy War Army, though in fact the League and Arab governments prevented thousands from joining either force.^[1]

At the meeting in Damascus on 5 February 1948 to organize Palestinian Field Commands, Northern Palestine including Samaria was allocated to Qawuqji's forces, although Samaria was de facto already under the control of Transjordan.^[2]

The Arab League Military Committee, with headquarters in Damascus, was responsible for the movements and servicing of the Army. The Committee consisted of General Ismail Safwat (Iraq, Commander-in-Chief), General Taha al-Hashimi (Iraq), Colonel Shuqayri (Lebanon), Colonel Muhammed al-Hindi (Syria) and Colonel Abd al-Qadir al-Jundi (Transjordan).

The ALA was dissolved at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.^[3]

Current strength of Arab League member states

N	Country	Military Service Age	Military Manpower Availability	Military Manpower Fit	Active Military Personnel	Reserve Military Personnel
1	Algeria	19	20,400,000	17,250,000	130,000	150,000
2	Bahrain	18	800,000	680,000	18,200	35,805
3	Comoros	18	139,491	205,207	1,000	N/A
4	Djibouti	18	391,797	268,730	20,470	12,220
5	Egypt	18	20,772,105	18,479,612	438,500	479,000
6	Iraq	18	11,512,731	9,701,179	538,000	664,169
7	Jordan	17	2,920,637	2,506,087	110,700	65,000
8	Kuwait	18	1,619,438	1,346,118	58,300	57,285
9	Lebanon	18	2,229,474	1,883,155	72,000	20,000
10	Libya	18	3,489,272	2,970,078	35,000	65,000
11	Mauritania	18	1,214,418	754,782	15,870	5,000
12	Morocco	18	15,791,743	13,160,516	198,000	175,000
13	Oman	18	1,228,492	1,016,551	75,000	35,000
14	Palestine	18	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
15	Qatar	18	555,059	462,150	67,000	N/A
16	Saudi Arabia	18	15,240,714	4,725,514	227,000	127,000
17	Somalia	18	4,479,288	2,715,538	13,000	24,000
18	Sudan	18	16,427,378	11,077,040	109,300	85,000
19	Syria	18	11,550,588	9,939,661	142,000	150,000
20	Tunisia	18	4,848,103	4,036,188	40,500	20,000
21	United Arab Emirates	18	752,707	412,490	63,000	180,000
22	Yemen	18	7,926,335	5,583,111	30,000	N/A
_	Arab League	18	129,183,640	119,039,543	1,828,840+	1,694,310+

List of Arab League member states by military expenditure

N	Country	Military expenditure
1	Algeria	$ 13.00 Billions +
2	Bahrain	$ 1.39 Billion +
3	Comoros	$ 1.61 Billion +
4	Djibouti	$1.61 Billion +
5	Egypt	$ 6.94 Billion +
6	Iraq	$ 20.88 Billions +
7	Jordan	$ 2.50 Billions +
8	Kuwait	$ 15.00 Billions +
9	Lebanon	$ 1.75 Billions +
10	Libya	$ 3.00 Billions +
11	Mauritania	$ 1.71 Billions +
12	Morocco	$ 3.40 Billions +
13	Oman	$ 9.77 Billions +
14	Palestine	$1.49 Billions +
15	Qatar	$ 2. 71 Billions +
16	Saudi Arabia	$ 78.70 Billions +
17	Somalia	$ 2.71 Billions +*
18	Sudan	$ 3.13 Billions +*
19	Syria	$ 3.31 Billions +
20	Tunisia	$ 1.49 Billion +
21	United Arab Emirates	$ 22.9 Billions +
22	Yemen	$ 3.50 Billions +*
_	Arab League	$ 187.50 Billions +

References

^ Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945–1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-3439-5
^ Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945–1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-3439-5
^ Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945–1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-3439-5

CIA World Factbook

[1] Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945–1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-3439-5

[2] Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945–1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-3439-5

[3] Levenberg, Haim (1993). Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine: 1945–1948. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-3439-5

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