Arab Union

The Union of Arab Republics (UAR; Arabic: اتِّحاد الجمهوريات العربية ittiḥād al-jumhūriyāt al-‘arabīyah), informally known as the Arab Union (الاتِّحاد العربي al-ittiḥād al-‘arabī), is a federal republic in North Africa and Western Asia. It consists of 20 Arab republics, each of which are more or less self-governing in their domestic affairs and share sovereignty with the federal government. Cairo, the largest city in the union, serves as both the federal capital and capital of the Egyptian Arab Republic, the union's most populous member republic. The Arab Union covers a vast, environmentally and culturally diverse landscape of almost 11.9 million square kilometres, making it the second-largest country in the world by land area, and with a population of over 445 million in 2018, it is the third-most populous country in the world, after China and India. Arabic serves as the official language of the union and its 20 republics, many of which also recognise other languages at the regional level. The Arab Union is home to a majority of sites considered holy by the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, making it a central destination for both religious pilgrimage and tourism, and hosts multiple important and protected archeological areas as well as 85 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Arab Union was established in the aftermath of the 1990–94 Arab Revolution, which entailed a protracted armed conflict between the pan-Arabist forces of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and a coalition of nationalist and Islamist forces in the multiple formerly sovereign Arab states. Emerging victorious, the Ba'athists consolidated their control over the Arab states which were each declared Arab republics, and which formally united in 1996 to form the Union of Arab Republics, each republic's government placing itself under a new federal administration. The period of postwar reconstruction across the new union was mostly finished by the start of the new millennium, which gave way to an exponential increase in economic integration eamong the Arab states, as well as increased sovereignty of the Arab world due to unification of each republic's armed forces under the Arab Union Armed Forces.

Today, the Arab Union represents the world's third largest economy, with a large industrial and manufacturing sector and a rapidly developing high tech sector. All major cities and the majority of smaller cities in all 20 republics are connected by a national expressway system which was funded by the federal government as part of the late 1990s reconstruction period, with similar developments including the refurbishment and construction of railways and large-scale modernisation of major ports. The Arab Union also has the highest standard of living in both North Africa and Western Asia. Its armed forces constitute the second largest standing army in the world, with the union often considered a potential superpower.

Since mid-2011, the Arab Union has experienced civil war in many regions, which began following mass civil unrest and armed uprisings in many republics that were put down by the military; the 2011 unrest was dubbed the "Arab Spring" by media, and the resulting ongoing civil war is thus usually referred to as the Arab Winter. The conflict is between the Ba'athist government of the Arab Union and its domestic and foreign allies led by the Arab Army on one side, and an array of Islamist armed groups funded by foreign sources including Arab expatriates and Western governments; many of the latter, the strongest and most influential of which is currently the Muslim Brotherhood, are at war with each other in addition to the government. The Arab Union government is supported militarily by Russia and Iran, and many Islamist groups have been supported by directly and indirectly by the United States, making the Arab Winter a proxy war with potential to widen in scope beyond the civil war as it originated. As of mid-2019, fighting continues in many regions, but over 90% of territory is under government control and life continues normally for the vast majority of the population.

Politics
There are two main centres of political power in the Arab Union: the government of the Arab Union, represented by the Arab Congress which elects the Council of Ministers; and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, the founding and ruling political party of the Arab Union and the only party to form government since the union's establishment.

Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was founded in 1947 in Damascus as a pan-Arabist movement seeking the establishment of a unified Arab state. The Ba'athists became the leading faction of the Pan-Arab Army during the 1990–1994 Arab Revolution, a large-scale armed conflict in most of the formerly independent Arab states, which resulted in the consolidation of Ba'athist hegemony over the Arab world and the subsequent establishment in 1996 of the Arab Union as a federation of the Ba'ath-controlled Arab republics. Since the union's establishment, the Ba'ath Party has been the sole ruling political party, with this role confirmed in the 1999 constitution which laid the groundwork for the development of the union's contemporary political system. Nine other social democratic or other leftist parties are officially allied to the Ba'ath Party as part of the National Progressive Front (NPF), a united front led by the Ba'athists which holds a majority of seats in both chambers of the Arab Congress. Pro-union opposition parties are permitted to exist and contest legislative elections, however nationalist parties as well as Islamist and other extremist parties are banned from partaking in federal or republican politics.

The highest organ of the Ba'ath Party is the National Congress, which is held every three years as a plenary meeting of the 20 regional branches' Regional Secretaries and their deputies (who are elected by their respective Regional Congress). The National Congress elects the National Command, which is officially the highest authority in the party between sessions of the National Congress. The National Congress also elects a National Secretary to lead the National Command, whose actions are accountable to the party as a whole at subsequent National Congress sessions.

Government
According to the 1999 constitution, the highest institution of state power is the Arab Congress, the federal legislative assembly which consists of two nominally equal chambers: the Congress of Deputies, the "lower house", consists of 1055 seats each representing a single electoral district of roughly 330,000 people; while the Congress of Republics, the "upper house", consists of 660 seats, 33 for each of the 20 constituent Arab republics regardless of population. Regular legislation begins in the Congress of Deputies, with passed bills subsequently voted upon in the Congress of Republics and if passed becoming law. This order is reversed in certain proceedings. Criminal law is entirely federal in nature, with civil and family law the provision of republican governments.

The Supreme Court of the Arab Union is the highest judicial authority in the country; its eleven puisne justices are appointed by both chambers of the Arab Congress, who elect from amongst themselves a President of the Supreme Court, also known as the Chief Justice. Directly subordinate to the Supreme Court of the Arab Union are the supreme courts of each constituent republic; the court system hierarchy is republican in nature, with all regular courts subordinate to a republican supreme court, the Supreme Court of the Arab Union being the only truly federal court, and hearing only unique cases affecting the union as a whole as well as appeals of cases tried in republican supreme courts.

The Arab Congress also elects the Council of Ministers, the top executive authority of the Arab Union, which oversees multiple federal and republican ministries as well as executive state committees. The Council of Ministers itself elects a chairperson, who is subsequently declared Prime Minister (head of government) of the Arab Union.

The head of state is the President of the Arab Union, who is popularly elected every six years. The President has the power to remove the Prime Minister and dissolve the Council of Ministers via executive order. The Presidency is also vested with the power of veto over legislation passed by either chamber of the Arab Congress. These powers are also applicable at the republican level, as the President of the Arab Union is considered head of state of each constituent republic. Impeachment proceedings against the President are initiated in the Congress of Republics, and must be passed by the Congress of Deputies before going to the Supreme Court for final ruling.

Each constituent Arab republic has its own republican-level government, which consists of a unicameral Arab Congress elected by the constituents of its respective republic, which elects a Council of Ministers to oversee republican ministries. For example, the Palestine Arab Congress is the legislature of the Palestinian Arab Republic, which elects the Palestinian Council of Ministers and the Premier of Palestine. The constitution lays out a strict delineation between the responsibilities of the federal and republican levels of government, with little overlap of jurisdiction. For example, the Ministry of Interior is always a republican-level ministry, overseeing the distinct National Police of each republic, while the Ministry of Defence is a federal ministry overseeing the Arab Union Armed Forces.

Administrative divisions
The 20 republics of the Arab Union are the first-level administrative divisions of the union; being a federation, the union's member republics each have their own elected government which cannot be unilaterally dissolved by the federal government, which shares sovereignty with the republics. Below that level, all administrative divisions exist purely at the discretion of the respective republican government, which may create or abolish such divisions as it sees fit.

The hierarchy is identical within each member republic: a republic consists of several governorates (Arabic: محافظات muḥāfaẓāt; sg. محافظة muḥāfaẓah) each of which are composed of at least three districts (منطقات minṭaqāt; sg. منطقة minṭaqah), which in turn encompass multiple municipalities (بلديات baladiyāt; sg. بلدية baladiyah). Each level has an executive body with jurisdiction over public administration within the division, appointed by the superior level of government. For example, each governorate is led by a governor, who is appointed by the republic's premier, and who in turn appoints an individual as prefect (head of government) of each constituent district. Municipalities differ in that they are each headed by a mayor who is popularly elected by the citizens of that municipality; the mayor's cabinet, however, is still subject to the authority of higher levels of government, namely the governor, who may order the dissolution of a municipal government, thus removing the mayor and initiating new municipal elections.

Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division. Some major cities have merged two or even three of the lowest levels into a single level of government; for example, the federal capital of Cairo is both a district and a municipality, as is Aleppo, while the municipality of Beirut is coterminous with both the District of Beirut and Beirut Governorate.

Within a single municipality will be found usually multiple boroughs; however, they exist only as geographical divisions and do not possess any government or administrative authority. There are no federal districts or federally administered territories within the Arab Union, meaning that any locality is officially part of a particular municipality, district, and republic.

Law and order
Civilian law enforcement is the primary responsibility of republics, with each republic having its own National Police which answers to the republican Ministry of Interior. Other subordinate agencies to roar republican interior ministries include the Directorate of Corrections, which is responsible for administering all prisons and remand centres in its respective republic. Federal law enforcement is handled entirely by a directorate of the Joint Security Committee, a security agency attached to the federal Council of Ministers which also has directorates responsible for surveillance, foreign intelligence and domestic security and counterintelligence.

The great majority of law enforcement activities, including everything from routine policing and traffic patrol to major crimes investigation, is handled by republican National Police, each of which has departments responsible for policing at the municipal, district, governorate, and republican level. Municipal departments consist of local patrol and first-response units posted in a particular community; district departments coordinate between and supervise municipal departments, and usually oversee traffic patrol operations; governorate departments supervise the districts and have highly trained homicide investigations and forensics units and other specialised investigations teams. A single central republican headquarters supervises all lower departments, and upholds order in the whole republic. Criminal investigations taking place across two or more republics are automatically under the federal jurisdiction of the Joint Security Committee, but usually continue to rely heavily upon National Police resources. All regular prisons and remand centres in the union are operated by republican government, the only prisons under federal control being the detention centres and military prisons used by the Arab Union Armed Forces.

Enforcement of customs and immigration policy including related activities like border patrol and security of international points of entry is handled by a Joint Security Committee directorate, while the actual naturalisation and citizenship process is handled by republican interior ministries, which also oversee vital statistics and census matters. A federal census is conducted once every ten years by the Ministry of Health, a federal ministry.