The United Arab States (UAS, ) was a short-lived confederation between the United Arab Republic and the Kingdom of Yemen from 1958 to 1961.

thumb|A stamp from the Kingdom of Yemen commemorating the United Arab States

The United Arab Republic was a sovereign state formed by the union of Egypt and Syria in 1958. The same year, the Kingdom of Yemen, which had already signed a defense pact with Egypt, entered a loose confederation with the UAR called the United Arab States on March 8. One reason for this decision was because North Yemen had felt threatened by its considerably larger and more powerful northern neighbor Saudi Arabia and saw the confederation as a source of security. However, unlike the constituent countries of the United Arab Republic, North Yemen remained an independent sovereign state, maintaining its UN membership and separate embassies throughout the whole period of confederation.

Neither the union nor the confederation fulfilled their role as vehicles of pan-Arabism or Arab nationalism, resulting in its dissolution in 1961.

See also

  • Arab League (1972–present), a regional organisation with 22 members.
  • Arab Federation, a confederation between Iraq and Jordan (1958)
  • United Arab Republic, a union of Egypt and Syria (1958–1961)
  • Federation of Arab Republics, a confederation of Egypt, Libya and Syria (1972–1977)
  • Union of Arab Republics, a proposed union of Egypt, Iraq and Syria (1972)
  • Arab Islamic Republic, a proposed union of Libya and Tunisia (1974)

Notes

References

  • The Charter of the United Arab States. in Basic Documents of the Arab Unifications. p. 21.