In March 1972,

Ba'athist Iraq Ba'athist Iraq, formally the Iraqi Republic until 6 January 1992 and the Republic of Iraq thereafter, covers the History of Iraq, national history of Iraq between 1968 and 2003 under the rule of the Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction), Arab S ...

proposed to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

a re-establishment of the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

, which failed in 1963. The Iraqi proposal was an immediate reaction to

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

's proposal for a United Arab Kingdom but collided with the already established

Federation of Arab Republics The Federation of Arab Republics (FAR; ar, اتحاد الجمهوريات العربية, , ) was an unsuccessful attempt by Muammar Gaddafi to merge Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Libya, Egypt and Syria in order to create a Arab Union, unified Ar ...

and failed because of Iraqi–Syrian differences.

Union of Arab Republics

The United Arab Kingdom plan was angrily rejected by the

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

, the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

and the

Islamic States An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

as well as by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The Iraqi counter-proposal urged the inclusion of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

(to fight united for the liberation of Palestine) in a ''Union of Arab Republics'' instead and invited all other "progressive" Arab states to join.

Shibli al-Aysami Shiblī Yousef Hamad al-Aysamī ( ar, شبلي العيسمي), alternatively also ''Shibli-L-Aʾysami'', ''al-Ayasami'', ''al-Ayssami'' or ''al-ʿAisamī'', (5 February 1925 – June 4, 2011) Druze-Syrian politician and Arab nationalist figure. ...

: ''Einheit, Freiheit, Sozialismus'', p. 99–102. Valle Olona, Varese 1978

Robin Leonard Bidwell Robin ''("Rob")'' Leonard Bidwell (25 August 1927 or 1929 in St Giles, London – 1994 in Coney Weston or Bury St Edmunds) was an English orientalist and author. He published many books about Yemen and Arabia as well as about French and British co ...

: ''Dictionary of Modern Arab History'', p. 429f. Routledge, New York 1998

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, however, would need to be excluded. At least for the beginning.

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

accused Libyan

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

of inciting Iraqi-Syrian conflicts while Gaddafi condemned the Iraqi regime for its approach to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the Iraqi communists.Reuters 27 March 1972:
Iraqi Delegation Arrives In Cairo For Talks On A Tripartite Federation
' (wit
VIDEO clip
At the end of March 1972, Iraqi vice president

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

led a high-ranking delegation to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

in order to promote the proposal. In Syria, Saddam Hussein met

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...

and

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Abdul Halim Khaddam Abdul Halim Khaddam ( ; ar, عبد الحليم خدام; 15 September 1932 – 31 March 2020) was a Syrian politician who was Vice President of Syria and "High Commissioner" to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was long known as a loyalist of Hafez ...

, but Egypt's

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

had already consulted Gaddafi in Libya. On 26 March, Saddam Hussein met Egyptian vice president

Mahmoud Fawzi Mahmoud Fawzi (, ) (19 September 1900 – 12 June 1981) was an Egyptian diplomat and political figure who was Prime Minister of Egypt from 1970 to 1972 and the vice president of Egypt from 1972 to 1974. Biography Fawzi was born in a village near ...

in Cairo and on 28th he finally met Sadat in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. Referring to the already established Egyptian-Libyan-Syrian

the proposal was rejected.Record of the Arab World: ''Yearbook of Arab and Israeli Politics'', vol. 1, p. 222. Research and Publishing House, 1972 However, Syria and Egypt invited Iraq to join the federation instead. According to Khaddam, the first step to unite an Iraqi-Syrian summit should settle the quarrels between the

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

and the Iraqi Ba'ath parties. In October 1972,

Iraqi president The president of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Con ...

Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr ' (1 July 1914 – 4 October 1982) was the fourth president of Iraq, from 17 July 1968 to 16 July 1979. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and i ...

agreed to Syria's conditions and proposed to create an Iraqi-Syrian union within the federation

Polska Akademia Nauk The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

- Komitet Badań Krajów Azji, Afryki i Ameryki Łacińskiej: ''Studies on the Developing Countries'', No. 1-4 (9-12), p. 180f. Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich, Breslau 1989 while Egypt and Libya had already announced to merge bilaterally in a closer union (also called ''United Arab Republic'') within the federation. Although further discussions were not held, in January 1973, Iraq assured Egypt and Syria its full military and economical support in case of a new war against Israel. Iraq's offer to create a Joint Military Command was rejected however.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Of Arab Republics Federation of Arab Republics 1970s in Egypt 1970s in Syria 1972 in Syria Arab League Arab nationalism in Egypt Arab nationalism in Iraq Arab nationalism in Syria Arab republics Former Arab states Former confederations Pan-Arabism Proposed political unions States and territories established in 1972

Union of Arab Republics

See also

Sources