Arab world must modernise the system: Anwar Gargash
The most significant development in the Arab region is the modernisation taking place in Saudi Arabia today, which deserves support from all of us.” Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
dubai — To achieve stability, the Arab World must modernise and renew its system by learning from the past and embracing diversity to move towards the future, a UAE minister has said.
Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the weakness of the Arab system exposed it to the regional interference of Turkey, Israel and Iran, stressing the need to have a new system that faces such challenges.
“We have the Iranian threat that uses sectarianism to expand its presence in the region, the Turkish threat supported by the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar with a religious speech, and the third in the UAE who chose to be within the Arab centre in Saudi Arabia and Egypt,” said Gargash as he spoke during the first day of Fikr16 conference on Tuesday.
Gargash pointed out that the weakness witnessed in the Arab system is also linked to that of the international system. “Therefore, we see the gaps in Syria and the solution is improving the internal capabilities in the Arab system. The talk about creating stability in the Arab world is linked to restoring state institutions, which will take decades,” said Gargash.
Stability is a basic requirement because demolishing the political system may take a year or two, but restoring it may require decades.
He also stressed the need for a balanced and realistic approach in dealing with instability, urging societies to open up to globalisation and benefit from other global experiences. “We shouldn’t exaggerate the concept of privacy which can lead to stagnation. We have to benefit from other experiences to move towards progress and development.”
Despite the Qatar crisis, Gargash stressed that the GCC remains because its success is not only political, but the creation of a common market facilitated trade exchange. The common interest of the people in the gulf overcame political differences.