“What they need perhaps is a charismatic leader in the mold of the late Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt whose dream for a United Arab Republic caught the fancy of a multitude of his generation.

Recent events have brought the conflict in the Middle East to a simmer. The Saudi Arabia-Iran open hostilities against each other and the recent invasion of Kurds in northeast Syria by Turkey are flashpoints for full-scale wars. And while they are busy at each other’s throat, their common historical archenemy, Zionist Israel, watches with amusement.

It is not difficult for them to unite. They are one race and have many things in common like history, religion, language and culture. For one, Islam commands them to be united as brothers. The concept of ummah community, a well-ingrained Islamic injunction, could push them into unity. But the Arabs, to whom Islam was first revealed and who are looked upon by non-Arab Muslims as paragons of devotion to Islam, don’t give much care about the Islamic duty.

Along with Islamic tawhid or obligation to worship one God is the duty of all Muslims to “strive for a single ummah.” These are fundamental precepts which every Muslim must know, being pillars of Islam. And yet the present Arab leaders just pay lip service to them.

Arabism is far from their mind. Their country’s tribal nationalism and patriotism are foremost on their minds. They are more absorbed looking selfishly for their country’s interest to the exclusion of others. In the meantime, their variant agenda and non-federation have attracted foreign powers as they become easy prey to manipulation.

They now are made pawns to serve the interest of Western governments. Thus, we see the effete performance and ineffectiveness of the Arab League of Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

What they need perhaps is a charismatic leader in the mold of the late Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt whose dream for a United Arab Republic caught the fancy of a multitude of his generation. Nasser was a soldier, diplomat and visionary. He liberated Egypt against the British without shooting a single bullet through his sheer political acumen and strategy. He was the first leader to espouse and champion Pan-Arabism as a way to unite all Arabs. To him, tribal identity common in most Arab countries must give way to being an Arab. He was so popular that his Arab nationalism almost succeeded uniting them.

Pan-Arabism is an ideology that seeks to unite the countries of North Africa and Western Asia in what we sometimes refer to as the Arab world. It is a concept to protect Arabs from the corrupting influence of the West. And it seeks to mold them politically and economically powerful vis-a-vis a common enemy — Zionism and other hegemonic foreign powers.

Nasser’s Arabism lost its steam for two reasons. One, the defeat of Egypt in the 1957 Six-Day War with Israel. (Nasser was so humiliated that he publicly resigned as president, but was prevailed upon after thousands of protesters in many cities forced him to reconsider.) And two, the Camp David Accord signed by President Anwar Sadat who succeeded Nasser with Israel sponsored by the United States, which disillusioned Arab leaders.

Historically, there were several unsuccessful attempts to unite the Arabs. King Abdullah I dreamed of uniting Syria, Palestine and Jordan under his leadership under a Greater Syria. In 1958, an Arab Federation was founded between Jordan and Iraq but lasted for only six months. A United Arab States between Egypt, Syria and Yemen was organized but was dissolved in 1961. Libya’s strongman Muammar Gaddafi attempted to organize the Federation of Arab Republics but it lasted for only for five years.

The Arabs with their oil wealth could be a force to reckon with in global politics. Their federation could be as economically and politically powerful as the United States and the European Union. It can in fact greatly influence world politics to its advantage, not a subservient player as they are now.

But this is easier said than done. We know for a fact that Arab leaders today are more prone to protect their monarchial and oligarchic reign and personal selfish interest than peripheral concerns, much less Arabism. This is the stark reality of Arab politics nowadays.

Adding to the decadence of Arabism is the fascination of millennial and Gen Z Arabs to the excitement and comfort brought by the technology of the computer world and their preoccupation to catch up with the march of information technology and modern gizmos. They care less about Arabism.