ABSTRACT
The Arab states found themselves formally independent and sovereign and unconditionally accept the legitimacy of its own statehood. Under the Wahhabis of Arabia, the idea of a state system is seriously challenged by the universal principle of pan-Islam. In the 1950s and 1960s, Arab nationalism under Nasser seriously challenged the state system from a nationalist perspective. Arab nationalists ignore and belittle the state system as baseless and as a creation of colonialism. This chapter presents a typology of the traditional Arab states according to the bases of their authority, a step which takes people to periods earlier than the nineteenth century. It discusses the impact of European influences and colonialism on these states during the nineteenth century, namely, the emergence of new social forces reinforces the state system. Then, it also specifies the Arab state system in terms of ideology, traditions and power.
