Title: Map of the member states of the Arab League.
On May 26, at a Sharm el-Sheikh summit, army chiefs of staff from Arab League countries drafted a protocol for a new joint force to intervene in Middle East conflict zones.
The joint Arab military may include from roughly 40,000 elite troops and backed by warplanes, warships and light armor. A high-level representatives work out the structure and mechanism of the force.
The joint force is intended to combat security threats to the Arab region, particularly emanating from “terrorist organisations”. The drafted plan describes where and how the force would be put into action. Membership is “voluntary”. A decision to intervene would be based on a request from a member state “facing threats.” Defense ministers of member states would run the force, with two-thirds of votes required to pass decisions.
The concept of an Arab joint force has been already tested in the ongoing Saudi-led coalition’s intervention in Yemen.