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Arab political order has been on the decline for at least 10 years Image Credit: Jose L. Barros/Gulf News

The Arab political order is a term that has been used for decades to describe an unofficial political system by which the regions big picture affairs are managed. Such affairs include the long-term strategic alliances with western powers, for example, but also includes the Middle East peace process and the pan-Arab security order.

For decades, this political order is centred around the regions big players such as the Gulf, historically represented by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Algeria. For some time in the 1908s, Morocco and Kuwait were part of that group.

To understand the importance of the order, one could look back at the efforts to end the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). The Arab mediation was spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Syria and Kuwait. Eventually, Saudi Arabia hosted the Tayef Conference which brought together Lebanons warring factions and ended in the 1990 agreement on a new power-sharing deal to end the war in that country.

Also, the Arab political order, historically, moved in sync over the Palestinian issue. All Arab initiatives to reach peace in the Middle East were usually agreed upon by all the key Arab states, including the landmark 2002 initiative put forward by Saudi Arabias King Abdullah at the Arab summit in Beirut.

Liberation of Kuwait

Another example is the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990. It was the decision of the kingdom, Egypt and Syria to rally an international coalition, led by the United States, that made the liberation of Kuwait possible and swift.

The trouble with the Arab political order is that it is somewhat cyclical. Its impact depends on the strength of its main pillars. For instance, the order has been at its lowest point due to the so-called Arab Spring, which saw the spread of popular protests in several Arab countries including Egypt, Syria and Algeria.

Thus, the burden of the Arab national security fell on other players, mostly Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The UAE became a crucial player that worked in partnership with the kingdom to preserve the regions stability and protect its interests in the face of unprecedented onslaught from outside powers, especially Iran and Turkey.

Those two countries seemingly smelt blood; they saw a crack in the Arab wall because of the Arab Spring (and the ensuing civil war in Syria, an important part of the Arab order) and the US invasion of Iraq earlier (another important part of the order) and tried to expand their influence in the Arab world through their proxy groups and militias.

Saudi-Iraq equation

Saudi Arabia, not only the centre of the Arab world, but also of the Islamic world due to its religious and geopolitical importance, has had to shoulder that burden, with the help of other Gulf states, mainly the UAE, for the past 10 years. The war in Yemen was part of that effort, so is its continuing engagement with Lebanons main parties, aimed at fending off the Iranian influence in that country via Hezbollah.

Few days ago, another Saudi move captured the attention of those interested in the regions affairs a video call between King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia and Iraqs Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi. The call stressed the importance of expanding and strengthening cooperation in political, security, trade, investment and tourism, to complement efforts from recent visits by officials between the two countries, a joint statement said.

Most importantly, the King invited Al Kadhimi to visit the Kingdom in the near future to meet with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to discuss ways to strengthen relations. The Iraqi premier accepted the invitation, said the statement.

Iraq has, since the US invasion 18 years ago, been under a firm grip of Iran, which enjoys the support and loyalty of many leading parties in the Arab country. Terrorism also has had its share in prolonging the Iraqi crisis.

Al Kadhimis game plan

For many, todays Iraq is merely a ghost of the once regional power that was a crucial player in the Arab political order. And for the past few years, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf states have been trying to change that. Their efforts, however, were frustrated by the subsequent Iraqi governments that continued to circle in Irans orbit. Al Kadhimi, who came to power in May last year seems to think, and more recently act, differently.

Born in Baghdad in 1967, Al Kadhimi, who holds a law degree, came to the premier office following the resignation of Haidar Al Abadi amid widespread protests in 2019. He was for years responsible for Iraqs national security and intelligence departments. He also holds a UK citizenship where he lived for long years after leaving Iraq in 1985 because of his opposition to Saddam Hussains rule.

In 2017, while accompanying Al Abdai on a visit to Saudi Arabia, he was seen embracing Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. The photo made headlines in Iraq at the time. Iran and its allied parties in Iraq opposed his appointment.

One of Irans proxy armed militias, Kataib Hezbollah, issued a statement in April 2020 in which it accused Al Kadhimi of collaborating with the US in the killing of its leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis and Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in the drone attack in January last year. In June 2020, militiamen belonging to the group in pickup trucks surrounded Al Kadhimis residence after he moved to arrest some of its members suspected of killing protesters, during the 2019 anticorruption demonstrations.

While Iran attempts to bolster its influence in Iraq, Al Kadhimi is not playing ball, said the weekly magazine the Economist last week. Unlike most of his predecessors, he has taken bold steps to end Tehrans control he has enforced American sanctions, preventing Iran from repatriating the billions of dollars it earns from exports to Iraq.

He has also annoyed the militias by restoring state control at some border crossings and removing their men from security posts. He asked Nato to send thousands of troops to strengthen the countrys security.

It is clear that the man seeks to bring Iraq back into the Arab fold. And he realises that Saudi Arabia is the natural gate to the Arab world. Saudi Arabia, which has been shouldering the burden of reorganising and reviving the Arab political order to ensure regional stability, has taken it upon itself to bring Iraq back to its natural place.

These efforts may seem in reality as another bilateral relation move between two Arab countries, but it means a lot more for the region. It is the beginning of a rehabilitation of the Arab political order that has been on the decline for at least 10 years.

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Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the rehabilitation of an Arab political order - Gulf News

Starting Date : 15th April 2021

Location : Iraq, Dohuk and Baghdad

Duration of Mission : 6 months

Premire Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. PUI teams are committed to support civilian victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars or economic collapse, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The Association leads in average 200 projects by year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures; water, sanitation and hygiene, and economic recovery. PUI provides assistance to around 6 million people in 23 countries in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

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Wide-scale violence and armed conflict erupted in Iraq in January 2014. In Anbar governorate, the cities of Ramadi and Falluja were particularly affected, the violence and its impact quickly grew. Also in June 2014, ISg, together with other armed groups, attacked and seized control of Mosul and large portions of northern Iraq, including areas of Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din governorates. The Government of Iraq (GoI) has conducted multiple military operations since 2016 to regain control of territories held by ISg and announced in November 2017 that military operations had successfully concluded in their retaking of all Iraqi territory. Military operations in Mosul, Anbar and Salah Al-Din have led to ongoing massive internal displacements, serious and systematic violations of civilian protection and basic human rights, interrupted access to basic services, and put a severe strain on host communities. The country is now gradually moving from an emergency situation which required lifesaving operations to a post-conflict transition towards durable solutions. As per the HNO published by OCHA on November 2019, 5.67 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 1.77 million in acute need. Half of them are concentrated in Ninewa and Anbar governorates. Furthermore, an estimated 2.8 million returnees continue to form a complex caseload for humanitarians, development actors, relevant government agencies and donors, with 1.2 million in acute resilience and recovery needs. Covid-19 epidemic with movement restrictions and other consequences has further complicated the humanitarian situation in Iraq.

Present in Iraq since 1983 through Aide Mdicale Internationale (AMI), and since 1997 through Premire Urgence (PU), PUI (Premire Urgence Internationale) brings help to vulnerable refugees, displaced persons as well as host communities (to avoid marginalization when the pressure on available resources becomes unbearable), in order to improve their living conditions and reinforce their resilience to enable them to regain dignity and autonomy. PUIs objective in Iraq is to provide a humanitarian response to needs arising from movements of population through actions aimed at reinforcing the existing Health system, and providing Mental Health Psychosocial Support to the people in need, but also at providing access to Shelter, to drinking Water, Hygiene and Sanitation. Given the scale of the crisis and the needs observed, PUI emphasizes multiple sectoral interventions and develops as much as possible an integrated approach, keeping health the core sector of its intervention.

As part of our actions in Iraq, we are looking for a A MHPSS Project Manager in Dohuk and Baghdad.

To ensure the implementation of the activities (training and facility rehabilitation components) of the MADAD funded consortium project, as per PUI commitment.

Focus on 3 priority activities related to the context of the mission :

Look at the full job description on our website for all the details you need.

Training: Masters Degree or equivalent in clinical psychology, psychiatric nursing or medicine

Experience:

Knowledge and skills:

Languages: English mendatory / Arabic and Kurdish desirable

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Iraq - MHPSS Project Manager in Dohuk and Baghdad - ReliefWeb

DUBAI: Spain received the highest number of migrants in Europe with 37,900 registered arrivals in 2020. Yet that is only slightly higher than the number that Yemen recorded last year, 37,500, even though Yemen is in the midst of war, disease, economic crisis and is on the brink of famine.

By the end of 2019, Yemen was hosting an estimated 280,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, 96 percent of them from Somalia and 3.8 percent from Ethiopia.

Yemen has been unstable since mid-2014. War has raged between Houthi militia forces and the internationally recognized government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, leading to what the UN has described as the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

Yet thousands from the Horn of Africa continue to seek refuge in the war-torn country.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative Jean-Nicolas Beuze, who has been in the Yemeni capital Sanaa for the past 14 months, says these migration figures reflect the suffering of migrants.

This speaks to the tragedies and persecution and suffering they have back home. They see no hope and no light at the end of the tunnel by staying in Somalia or Ethiopia and therefore Yemen, in their view, becomes safer than their own home, Beuze told Arab News.

Beuze says that the international community should find ways to provide safer options for people to claim asylum because going from Somalia to Yemen is not a solution.

Migration between the Horn of Africa and Yemen has been common throughout history, with Yemen regarded as a center of routes linking Africa, Asia and Europe.

In recent years, due to political and economic instability and climate change that have caused deadly droughts in the Horn of Africa, the number of migrants traveling to Yemen has increased.

In 2019, with an average of 11,500 people boarding vessels each month from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called it the busiest maritime migration route on earth.

Undeterred by the Gulfs strict immigration policies for undocumented migrants, according to the IOM, nearly 90 percent of those who arrived in Yemen intended to continue to Saudi Arabia.

The UN body for migration says that most are unaware of the security situation in Yemen where they face serious threats to their safety, including fighting or abuses such as kidnapping, torture, exploitation and trafficking.

Earlier this month, the Houthi militia admitted that tear gas fired by guards into a migrant detention center caused the fire that killed at least 45 people mostly Ethiopian and wounded more than 200.

Despite the incident with the migrants and the Houthis, Beuze says that the Yemeni population is welcoming of foreigners, both immigrants and refugees.

I must say, I am impressed by how hospitable the Yemeni people are, when they are themselves suffering, he said.

We dont see that kind of hospitality throughout the rest of the world anymore, and the rest of the world probably has far more capacity to host, assist, protect refugees than Yemen, one of the poorest countries on earth.

The surge in poverty across Yemen is driven by factors attributed to the war, according to a UN-sponsored report by the Pardee Center for International Futures entitled Assessing the Impact of War in Yemen on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

A UN conference for aid to Yemen earlier this month appealed for $3.85 billion to address the impoverished Arab countrys needs. Only $1.7 billion was raised a result the UN chief called disappointing.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for countries to reconsider what they could do to stave off the worst famine the world has seen in decades.

Beuze said that the lack of aid support would hinder the progress made in Yemen over the past three years. The international community should instead capitalize on the progress made in order for Yemeni communities become self-reliant, he said.

It will take much more time and much more money and much more investment to continue keeping their heads above the water if they start drowning, Beuze said in reference to those living in Yemen.

This is really not the time to abandon Yemen, he said.

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Tripartite summit between Egypt, Iraq and Jordan postponed due to train accident - Arab News

This is the first installment of a three-part series of interviews with Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vaticans Secretary for Relations with States. You can read Part 2here.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher is the Secretary for Relations with States, sometimes referred to as the Vaticans foreign minister. Pope Francis appointed him to this important position in November 2014, 30 years after he first joined the Holy Sees diplomatic service. During that time he served in its diplomatic missions in countries on five continents.

Archbishop Gallagher accompanied Pope Francis on his historic visit to Iraq and, some days later, gave a wide-ranging interview to Americas Vatican correspondent. He responded to questions related to Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, the Holy Land, Saudi Arabia, China and Myanmar, as well as some of the things the Holy See hopes President Joseph R. Bidens new administration might act on at the national and international level.

America will present the interview in three parts this week. The first focuses on Iraq and conflicts in the Middle East.

Pope Francis in Iraq

I began by asking Archbishop Gallagher about his overall evaluation of Pope Francis visit to Iraq. He rated it as overwhelmingly positive and possibly the most significant trip of the pontificate. Indeed, emblematically, it expresses most of the objectives of the pontificate in terms of the wider mission and ministry of the pope.

He described Francis meeting with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as quite remarkable and said it seems that really these two men had an understanding, they shared much, and there were lots of gestures on the part of al-Sistani toward the pope, gestures of great respect and understanding.

He rated the meeting as a breakthrough not just with Shia Muslims in Iraq but also with the very significant and great Shia community around the world, including in Iran. He viewed it as equivalent to the meeting of Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and the signing of the document on human fraternity in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4, 2019.

In going to Iraq, he said, Pope Francis went to a country which almost incarnates human suffering historically at this time, after Syria and Yemen, and where you could see that on the faces of the people. His expressing the regret and the sorrow of the world for everything that had happened in Iraq in recent decades was very important, Archbishop Gallagher said.

He recalled that Francis expressed his support not only to the Christian communities of Iraq and of the region who have been persecuted and suffered but also to the other persecuted communities such as the Yazidis for whom he has enormous sympathy.

The archbishop noted that Francis also highlighted the migration crisis and the many people who have left Iraq for other parts of the world and expressed the hope that some might yet find their way to return to their homeland.

Embracing the Shia Muslim World

Asked whether he thought Francis embrace of both the Sunni and the Shia Muslims through his meetings with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Ayatollah al-Sistani, respectively, could contribute in some way to a resolution of the grave conflict in Yemen, Archbishop Gallagher replied: I doubt that. Yemen is a really intractable geopolitical problem. He noted that its a similar case to Iraq and recalled that the pope was very sensitive to the fact that Iraq is caught between two mega-regional powers, between the United States, which has long-standing interests in the region, and Iran, as well as Turkey.

Likewise, he sees Yemen trapped in a wider power struggle and said: I dont think Yemen is going to substantially improve anytime soon. Too many people and countries are interested in having geopolitical control of what Yemen represents. I think theres still an awful lot of work, an awful lot of pressure that needs to be brought to bear on that situation. So Im not terribly optimistic about the impact [of the popes embrace of the Sunni and Shia Muslims] on Yemen.

Religious leaders in Iran, including Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, the head of all Iranian seminaries, responded positively to the popes visit to Iraq and meeting with Ayatollah Sistani. When asked if he thinks Pope Francis may be able to visit Iran, Archbishop Gallagher replied: Yes, I certainly think there is this possibility. There is openness. And not just openness; there is desire. But we have to also be confident that the papal visit will benefit and strengthen the local Catholic community.

It is a work in process, he said, and I certainly think that would be on the cards in the future, but there are many factors to be evaluated before we can go forward.

The Vatican archbishop foresees a papal visit to Lebanon because the pope has committed himself to doing that and Im sure hell keep his promise. Its just a matter of when. As yet, there are no concrete plans for the visit. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, visited the country last year, and its probable that I may go in the coming months, and this may prepare the way for a papal visit, Archbishop Gallagher said.

Hezbollah, an Islamist militia and political party backed by Iran, praised Pope Francis visit to Iraq, and the archbishop believes they would welcome him to Lebanon, too. Lebanon is in a pretty desperate situation, he added. The Holy See is also very concerned about the hemorrhaging of Christians, in particular, from Lebanon to their diaspora and elsewhere.

The Christian Exodus

The exodus of Christians from the Middle East region is a matter of grave concern, the archbishop said. Every time we ordain a titular bishop, very many of them receive titles of old dioceses in North Africa where the church flourished for many centuries. Now the church is a very small flock in all those countriesTunisia, Algeria, Morocco, etc.and there is a danger that the whole of the Middle East could become a replication of that. We could have a Middle East and the Holy Land without Christians; the holy places could become more museums than true places of pilgrimage, devotion and worship.

This is in many ways unthinkable, Archbishop Gallagher said. At the same time it is a not unrealistic prospect unfortunately. So, we have to work on this, and we have to try and make the conditions suitable for keeping the Christians weve got and possibly inviting people, who for very reasonable motives have left the region in these years, to come back.

Moreover, he said, We believe that Christians play a very important geopolitical role in the region, also being that rather flexible mortar which exists between massive and different contrasting communities of Islam throughout the region. We hope and we pray that that will be possible, but it will require a lot of hard work, both diplomatically and politically, and also in terms of solidarity by the wider Christian church to support and encourage Christians to stay in the biblical lands.

Saudi Arabia: A Thaw in Relations?

Saudi Arabia is one of a small number of countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, even though King Abdullah visited Benedict XVI in 2007, and an official delegation met with Pope Francis in 2017. I asked the archbishop how he would describe the current state of relations between the Holy See and Saudi Arabia.

Its pretty distant, he remarked. He recalled that Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran made what many considered a historic visit to Saudi Arabia in April 2018 when he was president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and that office still engages in the dialogue. Beyond that, he said, we have occasional contacts with the Saudi authorities, but at the moment there is no formal process of improving those relations, which we would like.

Its obviously a complex situation because of the composition of the society and of the delicate relation of religion to the monarchy. Moreover, as everybody knows at this particular time Saudi Arabia is going through a lot of difficulties and questions from the international community, he said. Nevertheless, our door is always open, and in particular because we have great concern for the large numbers of Catholics who do work in Saudi Arabiathe Filipinos, the Indians, the Sri Lankansand therefore we would like to see greater religious freedom and freedom of assembly to be granted to them to express and live their faith, and we will continue to work at that.

Asked if he thought the document on human fraternity that Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar signed in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4, 2019, could facilitate a thaw in relations with Saudi Arabia, the archbishop responded positively.

I think potentially yes, he said. But like anything where you have particular interests at play you need the political will to make something work. Certainly, I think the document on human fraternity provides a platform and a new almost sort of language with which to engage people, and I think that is what the pope is trying to do.

Obviously, he said, religion is a deep part of human experience but clearly when you get differing traditions and experiences of religion there is a potentialwe know that from history and even nowof great sensitivity and potentially of contrast. I think what the pope has tried to do with the whole notion of fraternity is to go deeper into our humanity to try and find common ground with people. And, as you say, it seems to be working. It seems to have provided a nonthreatening approach, and I think potentially lots of others could come into it and maybe ultimately Saudi Arabia will be possibly one of them.

Syria: A Decade of War

I asked the archbishop if he saw any immediate solution for Syria, where the Holy See has a nuncio who is a cardinal.

No, sadly I dont see much hope, he replied. We try to encourage principled realism, realism in the sense there are things that we cannot change as things stand at the moment. Obviously, you cannot abandon your principles, the things that are important, the values that drive you. At the same time, after 10 years of war in Syria we have to be realistic about what wethe international community, the regioncan achieve.

Were very concerned about the extreme poverty that prevails in the country, Archbishop Gallagher said, the fate of the young people who now after 10 years of war, [face a] lack of schooling, lack of adequate nourishment. Again youre facing a future generation that is going to be very much handicapped in nearly every sense of the word. But I dont see a miracle for Syria on the horizon, sadly.

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Pope Francis' trip to Iraq was a historic breakthrough. But will it lead to greater peace in the Middle East? - America Magazine

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, in a pair of complementary studies, investigated eating disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan war-era veterans, a group thought to be at high risk for eating disorders.

New eating disorders Atypical Anorexia Nervosa, Night Eating Syndrome, and Binge-Eating Disorder -- were included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) when it was last updated. Experts thought those disorders might be relevant for older adults, men, a range of racial and ethnic groups, and people who are overweight.

The Yale and VA research team, led by Robin Masheb, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, examined the prevalence, gender differences and correlates of new and revised DSM-5 eating disorders in the first study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Over 1,110 veterans completed a survey of measures studying longitudinal gender differences in healthcare utilization and health outcomes. While the investigators found no cases of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) they were surprised to find that 14 percent of women and 5 percent of men met criteria for probable Aytpical AN.

Bulimia Nervosa was reported in 6 percent of women and 3.5 percent of men; at least three times more common than in civilians. In Binge-Eating Disorder and Night Eating Syndrome prevalence estimates ranged from 3 to 6 percent.

All together one-third of women and one-fifth of men met criteria for a likely DSM-5 eating disorder, and the eating disorders were associated with mental health concerns such as trauma, depression, and insomnia, the researchers found.

In the second study, published in Eating Behaviors, the investigators wanted to gain a better understanding of Atypical Anorexia given the prevalence in the surveyed veterans was so unexpectedly high, and that few research studies had been published on the disorder.

Atypical Anoreixa is characterized by an intense fear of weight gain and restrictive eating minus the dangerously low weight found in AN. In place of the very low body weight criterion, for the diagnosis of Aytpical Anorexia, these individuals must be at a body weight that is at least 10 percent below their highest adult weight.

The investigators found that at their highest weight, those with Atypical Anorexia were in the obese range, had lost on average 18 percent of their body weight, and were currently in the overweight range (average BMI was 28.8). Those with Atypical Anorexia weighed similarly to those with no eating disorder, but less than those with Bulimia or Binge-Eating Disorder.

On measures of mental health, they functioned worse than those without an eating disorder, similar to those with Binge-Eating Disorder, and only slightly better than those with Bulimia.

Masheb said there may be physiologic factors involved in aging and military fitness at odds with holding unusually low weights. Thus, Atypical Anorexia may be a variant of Anorexia more appropriate for capturing eating disorders in a wide range of adult populations including men and people who are overweight or in middle age and beyond, she said.

We need to better understand how eating disorders present in this and other diverse populations so that we can begin to dispel myths and misconceptions among providers and patients that eating disorders only occur in young, low weight girls and women, said Masheb, Director of the Veterans Initiative for Eating and Weight (The VIEW at VA Connecticut Healthcare System).

Recognizing the growing need for eating disorder care among male and female Veterans, the VA is enhancing treatment and expanding provider training for eating disorders.

Mashebs Yale School of Medicine co-investigators were Sally Haskell, MD; Cynthia Brandt, MD, MPH; Christine Ramsey, PhD; and Suzanne Decker, PhD.

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Yale, VA Researchers Investigate Eating Disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan War-Era Veterans - Yale School of Medicine