ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Arab regional system, more particularly its core area, the eastern Arab world. It examines the setting, namely the domestic and regional conditions that confront Arab states and underpin the regional system. The chapter deals with the characteristics of the system proper, that is, its structural properties the changing patterns of behavior and relationships among Arab states. Internal instability seriously weakened the position of key states, and the constant concern for political survival obliged Arab governments to devote much of their attention and energy to staying in power. While pressures on the Arab front-line states remained, they were counterbalanced to some extent by emerging pressures on Israel. In the Arab system, there were significant constraints on the use of the traditional instruments of statecraft. Egypt's increased activity in the Arab sphere in the latter half of the 1980s combined with its official reinstatement in the system have undoubtedly provided it with new opportunities to exercise influence.
