Arab League’s proposed joint force: an attempt to turn talk into hard power
DOHA — The Arab League’s revival of a long-talked-about idea — a joint military force under a central command — is less a sudden pivot than the latest sign of a region wrestling with the limits of its collective muscle. The plan, reportedly first tabled by Egypt, would stitch together land, sea, air and special operations units from member states into a standing capability the league says could respond quickly to crises across the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
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Delegations meeting in Doha this week for an Arab League–Organization of Islamic Cooperation session are also preparing for an emergency summit to address a September 9 airstrike in Qatar attributed to Israel that hit what some officials described as an overseas Hamas headquarters. The attack, and the diplomatic fallout around it, has sharpened calls among some capitals for Arab institutions to take a more assertive security role.
What is on the table?
The proposal, as described to regional media outlets, envisages pooled funding and hardware from member states and a central command modeled loosely on foreign templates — most notably the U.S. Africa Command — that would coordinate rapid defense and strike capabilities. Proponents say such a force could also be mobilized for humanitarian relief and disaster response, a frequently cited rationale that broadens its political acceptability.
“There is a sense now that reactive diplomacy is not enough,” said a senior Arab diplomat who asked not to be named. “When borders are porous, militias roam, and external actors test our resolve, we either build our capacity or outsource our security.”
Why now?
Several pressure points have made the proposal politically attractive. The Gaza war and recent strikes spilling beyond Israeli-Palestinian borders have reignited debates about regional deterrence. At the same time, simmering disputes across the Red Sea corridor — from Egypt’s fury over Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to tensions around foreign deployments in Somalia — have made Arab capitals more anxious about their ability to influence outcomes beyond their immediate neighborhoods.
Egypt, as a traditional security heavyweight, is pushing the idea in part to reassert a leadership role that many in Cairo argue has been diminished by the shifting alliances of the past decade. For other states, particularly those worried about Iranian influence or instability spilling across borders, a collective force promises a tool to project stability without relying exclusively on outside powers.
Practical hurdles and political realities
Talk of common Arab security has a long history; the Arab League was founded in 1945 and has repeatedly faced the same hurdle — agreement in principle, paralysis in practice. The gulf between rhetoric and reality is vast: 22 member states with widely differing military capacities, priorities and alliances.
- Funding and logistics: Who pays for what, and how will a central command exercise authority over national forces that answer first to capitals?
- Command and control: Would the force be supranational, or operate only with explicit national approval for each mission?
- Political cohesion: Arab politics remain fractured — rivalries between Gulf states, the lingering effects of the 2011 uprisings and differences over Iran and Turkey would complicate unified action.
- Legal and diplomatic constraints: Deploying forces across borders raises questions of sovereignty and international law, especially where non-state armed groups and transnational disputes are involved.
“You can agree to the idea around a table,” said Omar Hassan, a Cairo-based security analyst. “But when it comes to boots on the ground or striking targets abroad, national priorities and sensitivities will determine the limits.”
Horn of Africa flashpoint and the limits of regional reach
The proposal arrives against a backdrop of particularly fraught dynamics in the Horn. Egypt and Sudan have long warned that Ethiopia’s filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam will materially harm downstream water supplies. At the same time, Cairo’s reported preparations to send forces to Somalia for peacekeeping — presented as support against al-Shabab — have been criticized by Addis Ababa, which fears Egypt’s presence could upset local balances and erode gains against militants.
Accusations that Ethiopia signed a clandestine deal with North Western State of Somalia for access to the Red Sea underscore how quickly nineteenth- and twentieth-century geographic imperatives collide with twenty-first-century geopolitics. A unified Arab force might be seen as a tool to prevent such deals or to tip the balance in fragile theatres, but it could also escalate rivalries by being perceived as an instrument of one bloc over another.
What a Joint Arab Force would mean globally
If it ever materialized, a credible Arab League military force would be consequential. It could reduce Arab dependence on extra-regional actors for security tasks, alter calculations in conflicts where outside powers now intervene, and provide a regional mechanism for crisis response. But it could also provoke countervailing moves from states outside the Arab fold — regional players like Turkey and Iran, and extra-regional powers such as the United States, China and Russia — which have their own interests in shaping security arrangements.
For many analysts, the idea highlights a broader global trend: regions seeking to assume more responsibility for their own security as global attention becomes more diffuse and multipolar competition intensifies. The African Union, the European Union and NATO have all faced their own versions of this dilemma: how to translate political will into coherent, interoperable military capacity.
What to watch next
Key indicators will determine whether the proposal remains a headline or becomes a program: concrete pledges of troops and equipment; establishment of an agreed command structure; legal frameworks for deployment; and the responses of non-Arab regional actors. The emergency summit in Doha, driven by outrage over the Qatar strike and the need for diplomatic coordination, may serve as a convening moment. Or it may simply add another layer of declarations to a long-running debate.
Ultimately, the question is not just whether Arab states can build a joint force, but whether they can build the political will to use it in ways that reflect a genuinely shared understanding of regional security. In a region where alliances shift and flashpoints multiply, that is as much a diplomatic challenge as a military one.
Will a joint Arab force make the Middle East more stable — or simply give new form to old rivalries? The answer will shape the politics of the region for years to come.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
