There Is A Silver Lining Here

I'm sure that there are a large number of people who are snickering at the collapse of the Arab League Summit. And it does have a decent "what were they thinking?" snicker factor involved.

But at the same time, as I read some of the quotes from Arab officials, I have to believe that there might be the faintest glimmering of a silver lining.

Tunisian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatem bin Salem said Sunday that his government's decision gave "another chance" to the Arabs to resolve their differences. Had the meeting gone ahead, "the summit would have come out with formalities, and regretfully, would have been the subject of ridicule by Arab and world public opinion."

"Certainly this is not one of our best moments," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa acknowledged. "The Arab system is not in a good shape."

Arab summits of past have always seemed to be events at which Arab leaders would get together, make bold and lofty pronouncements, and then go home, chests puffed out, with nothing having actually been achieved.

But this time, the Tunisians have at least showed some understanding that they needed to come up with something more than just ridiculous statements. They may still come up with some outlandish idea, but at least they are starting to understand that words alone are not enough.

Even the head of the Arab League came up with an observation that, while not surprising to the rest of us, is a breakthrough for the Arab world. The Arab system is in bad shape. Acknowledging a problem is the first step in fixing it, right? Well, it has finally been acknowledged.

Now they may decide that they are in bad shape not because the League is made up primarily of tyrannical dictators and sociopaths but because of the Will of Allah or the Israelis. But, for the moment at least, they have recognized that there is a problem and the opportunity for it to be analyzed and corrected is now before them.

Yes the failure of the summit does have a humorous element to it, but this time there is some reason, however faint, for hope.

Now let's see how they handle it.