Cracks in the Bloc

The Arab world is really a lot of little worlds--nation-states, kingdoms, sheikdoms--and it is seamed and cross-stitched with special interests, jealousies, old feuds and odd alliances. It has never been monolithic and, in spite of Cairo's stout talk of united Arab backing for Strongman Nasser in the Suez crisis, it is not now.

There are telltale signs of fissures in Nasser's support. From Beirut last week came news that Jordan's young King Hussein is discreetly promoting a meeting with the Presidents of Lebanon and Syria to discuss how the small Arab states can assert their independence of Nasser's dominance. They must move cautiously because Nasser has reached behind them, via radio and other propaganda channels, to fan the nationalist enthusiasm of the people in the streets. More important, soberer heads in the oil-bearing states of Iraq and Saudi Arabia have become profoundly worried by wild nationalist threats to blow up their pipelines, refineries and other installations, should the West make a move to reclaim the Suez. Nor do King Feisal and King Saud take kindly to the way the Egyptians talk of Iraqui and Saudi oil as "Arab" oil that can be used as a lever in Nasser's fight against the West.

For the first time in years King Saud is dickering again with his Hashemite royal rival in Iraq; their common concern for oil royalties apparently brought them together. According to Cairo reports, King Feisal of Iraq last month suggested that the Saudi join forces with him in urging Nasser to compromise with the West. Saud replied that though Arabs must stand together behind Egypt there was a need for moderation. When Saud's Cairo spokesman, Sheik Yussuf Yassin, broke this news to Nasser, Egypt's strongman found himself faced with a call for moderation from the interesting combination of his Saudi ally and his Iraqi enemy.

By the King's personal order, Saudi Arabia was the only Arab country which did not join last month's one-day general strike protesting the London conference. Apart from his anxiety for an assured oil income, the King apparently fears that the Suez crisis, war or no war, is bound to push Nasser closer to the Russians. It was in large part the hope of reducing Nasser's temptation to move into the Russian bear hug that inspired Saud's recent $10 million emergency credit to the Egyptian government.

Though the cracks in Nasser's bloc exist, it would be a mistake to exaggerate them. Arab nationalism is a force to be reckoned with these days, and one the rest of the world can underestimate only at its own peril.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.