I was wondering why

I never said that the people of Arabia were identical. Let alone that the people of the Maghreb were identical or the people of Egypt, Palestine, Libya etc.

You did use the word identical, so I was just correcting that.

What I wrote though was that those groups of people share almost everything in common in the wider picture. Much like most of the Arab world. Denying, may I say this fact, makes no sense. Those differences that you just mentioned are present in almost every society. Let alone the Arab world which is the crossroad of the world.

You're right. But that's why I said we Arabs can't handle these differences. We can't seem to tolerate each other's cultural, religious and sectarian differences. We as a people are sadly not ready for a union.

Yet it is completely foolish (not saying that you do but many Arabs do) to completely ignore all what binds us as Arabs together which is much more than what makes us different. In the wider picture. Also much of what you talk about is bound in religion (the current sectarian battles in the Muslim world especially the MENA) and how WE ourselves and OUR regimes have become corrupted. Now it seems that there is no escaping from that evil cycle. At least in the near future.

Yeah, religion is absolutely a part of the culture. That's why for example, Najranis who tend to be Ismaeli Shias tend to be different from their neighbors from Jazan, who are Sunnis. They live very close to each other, but despite their similarities, there are differences that cause a rift between the two.

You are talking about regional differences between people in KSA. Egypt is similar and so is every major Arab country and country for that matter. Yet you won't succeed with telling me or anyone else for that matter that a random Najdi and Hijazi have not much more in common today than the opposite. What exactly are the major unsolvable problems in terms of regionalism in Arabia? The only example I can think of is North and South Yemen but that has a religious dimension to it.

I never heard a Saidi Egyptian call people from Alexandria something like, Greek stooges, or Greek agents. Despite their differences, Egyptians are Egyptians. They are a nation that has a very long history. Upper and Lower Egypt were unified like 6000 years ago. Saudi Arabia was "unified" around a 100 years ago. Arabia as a whole has never been a unified state since the times of Mohammed and Rashidun Caliphs.

Rest of what you have mentioned is bound in sectarianism. I have nothing against Saudi Arabians but I think it's fair to say that theocracies like KSA have no future on the long run in the Arab world, Muslim world or the world for that matter. Thus my hope, maybe it's naive, is that we as Arabs finally adopt secularism and realize that secular societies are perfectly compatible with Islam. If/when that happens most of what you have mentioned will pass away automatically like earlier habits passed away.

I absolutely agree.

Regarding the richer GCC citizens such as Qataris, Emiratis and Kuwaitis and them not wanting to share the wealth, have you ever thought about this topic from a long-term perspective? Or from a demographic perspective? Qataris and Emiratis are small minorities inside their own countries. Their small numbers give them obvious limitations in terms of long-term economic growth and the natural resources won't last forever.

You're right again. These small countries' economies depend on their large foreign working force, which will leave as soon as the oil/gas runs out. Their economies are very unsustainable. They are trying to diversify but I don't see it working in the long run. They are just too dependent on foreign workers and resource extraction (not an actual manufacture industry).

Thus a natural thing for them would be to join hands with the immediate, dare I say almost identical neighbors in KSA, Oman etc. to form a potentially strong regional blog. Anyway what are the negatives of the GCC in its current form becoming a federation and adopting a single currency etc.? How would that hurt Arabia? On the other hand I can give you a lot of examples of why such a thing would be positive provided that certain criteria are met.

You mistunderstood me. I never said it's not gonna be beneficial. I'm just saying the owners of the countries can't seem to agree) on it.

The Arab League is a joke and the sooner it is reformed the better. But as long as our countries and people are ruled by largely mediocre/oppressing regimes nothing will really change in the wider picture, if you ask me.

My argument was that it's not just the regimes that are in the way of Arab unification. I too think it's in our best interest to form a union or a pact, or sort, like Nato. But then again the saying goes: 'اتفق العرب ان لا يتفقوا'

/r/arabs Thread Parent