ABSTRACT
This chapter studies the political economy of the League of Arab States (LAS or the Arab League) from the perspective of its capability to marshal economic and political resources and set spending priorities. In large international agencies such decisions are normally summarised in the budget. The chapter deducts the relative priorities of the Arab League by analysing the decisions of the 35 summits held over its more than 70 years of operations. The chapter finds a clear shift in priorities, as the early issues of independence of Arab states and Arab-Israeli conflict receded to the background with the emergence of security concerns and inter-Arab disputes. Also, the Arab League began to reach out to other regional organisations and to coordinate with major global players and institutions.
Despite the wealth of many of its member countries, the organisation has recurring difficulties in covering its expenses and in establishing a bona fide budgeting process. Despite the clear ingenuity exhibited by the League’s financial administrators in juggling their programs to fit budget shortfalls, this situation is not sustainable. These financial challenges call for additional radical changes in the budgeting process to tackle shortcomings concerning the modernisation of the budgetary process, transparency and deeper participation of the Arab civil society. The chapter explains the roots of this endemic financial difficulties, compares with the budget process in other organisations and explores proposals to create more reliable financial arrangements.
