The Arab Cooperation Council (ACC) was founded on 16 February 1989 by

North Yemen North Yemen may refer to: * Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962) * Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. The ACC was created partly in response to the four countries being left out of the Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC), partly out of a desire to foster closer economic cooperation and integration among its members, and partly as an Egyptian step to rejoin mainstream Arab politics after years of ostracism following its peace treaty with Israel. The members of the ACC, unlike the GCC states, appeared uncomfortable with the grouping's exclusion of other Arab states; the ACC charter explicitly states that "Membership in the ACC shall be open to every Arab state wishing to join it." The short-lived organization held at least 17 formal meetings at the summit or ministerial level in 1989 alone, in addition to dozens of working-level sessions. This level of institutionalization was more extensive than most Arab subregional gatherings had exhibited. Somalia and Djibouti showed interest to join the ACC but were asked to wait until the ACC would be consolidated. However, the organization did not survive the crisis that followed Iraq's

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

on 2 August 1990. In part, this can be attributed to the four countries' lack of common geopolitical interests, the absence of a true shared identity (beyond common status as Arab states), and tensions between Egypt and Iraq. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Egypt in particular opposed Iraqi actions—actually joining the coalition that sent troops to Saudi Arabia and eventually liberated Kuwait. In retrospect, Egyptian President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

said that the security aspects of the ACC were probably designed by Iraq to lure Cairo into backing

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 revolutio ...

's foray into Kuwait. Within weeks of the invasion of Kuwait, the ACC's Secretariat canceled upcoming organizational events and the grouping ceased to exist in anything but name.''What do they have in common?'', The world of the Arabs: A special report on the Arab world, The Economist, 23 July 2009 Egypt officially suspended its membership in the ACC in early 1994. The ACC's failure was no surprise to many observers. Arab political pundit Mohamed Hassanein Heikal wrote in his book ''Illusions of Triumph'' (1992) that "The four leaders of the Arab Cooperation Council came romdifferent and contradictory worlds, with outlooks so varied that they seemed improbable partners."

References

{{Authority control Arab organizations Former international organizations International economic organizations International organizations based in the Middle East Organizations disestablished in 1994 Organizations established in 1989