The passing of the late ambassador Dr Nabil Al-Arabi last week signalled the end of a living diplomatic legend, not only at the Egyptian level, or even at the Arab and African levels, but also at the international level.

This statement reflects the fact that at the national level he served as Egypt’s foreign minister at a very important juncture following the 25 January 2011 Revolution, after serving for almost a decade and half in the 1980s and 1990s as the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations in both Geneva and then New York.

It also reflects the fact that at the regional level Al-Arabi served for five years as secretary general of the Arab League at a critical moment in the contemporary history of the Arab nation during and in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. He served as a judge at the UN-affiliated International Court of Justice (ICJ) and was a renowned expert in international law at the global level.

Beside these accomplishments, Al-Arabi also had many other specific achievements at all levels, the national, the regional, and the international.

As director of the Legal Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva in the 1980s, Al-Arabi skilfully led the Egyptian delegation, first in the negotiations with Israel and the US regarding the settlement of the Egyptian-Israeli dispute over Taba in Sinai, and second at the Arbitration Tribunal in Geneva to which both Egypt and Israel agreed to refer the matter after the failure of direct negotiations and US mediation efforts.

At the tribunal, Al-Arabi led a very distinguished team of Egyptian experts in various areas relevant to the Taba dispute, including the famous Egyptian international jurist professor Georges Abi Saab, Dr Moufid Shehab, the late Dr Salah Amer, the late counsellour Amin Al-Mahdi, the late Dr Younan Labib Rizk, and Major-General Abdel-Fattah Mohsen, among others.

The outcome of the arbitration process was eventually in favour of Egypt, signalling a victory for Egyptian diplomacy and for then foreign minister the late Dr Esmat Abdel-Meguid. However, at the same time it was a great success and credit for Al-Arabi in recognition of his exceptional diplomatic capabilities, his outstanding legal qualifications, and of his being able to lead a high-level team of experienced professionals in various areas with high levels of expertise.

Evidence of the achievements of Al-Arabi and other members of the Egyptian team at the Taba Arbitration Tribunal came when he and other team members were honoured twice, first during the rule of late president Hosni Mubarak directly following the victory of Egypt at the tribunal, and second during the rule of interim president Adli Mansour in 2014. All the members of the team received high-level awards, but Al-Arabi in particular received the highest decoration.  

At the regional level, Al-Arabi, then foreign minister, was nominated by the government of Egypt and approved by a consensus of all the Arab countries as Secretary-General of the Arab League in 2011. This took place at the height of what was labelled the “Arab Spring.”

For five years, Al-Arabi had to lead, amidst turbulent times, this regional organisation that was established in 1945 to reflect the will of the Arab countries to establish an Arab regional order in the aftermath of World War II and the political independence of many Arab countries.

Al-Arabi’s period in office as Secretary-General of the Arab League witnessed some difficult, and sometimes tragic, internal challenges faced by a substantial number of Arab countries, whether in the context of the Arab Spring or for other reasons, domestic, regional, or international.

This situation was coupled with the increasing marginalisation of the Palestinian problem, historically the central question for all the Arab peoples, due to the internal problems faced by some Arab countries as well as by other regional and international challenges facing the Arab regional order.

However, Al-Arabi managed, through the optimal utilisation of his exceptional and profound diplomatic skills, to take a balanced approach to the sometimes difficult situations of some Arab countries and to the relations among them and their relations with other non-Arab regional actors as well as the main global players.

Last, but not least, I would like particularly to refer to two of Al-Arabi’s great achievements at the international level.

The first came in his capacity as permanent representative of Egypt to the UN in New York, where he served between 1991 and 1999. On arriving in New York from Geneva to assume the post, Al-Arabi led the campaign to endorse the nomination of the late Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali to the post of secretary-general of the United Nations.

It was one of the most difficult “battles” in the history of Egyptian diplomacy, particularly as prior to that date there had been no Arab or African elected to this important international post. But as great as the challenge was, the success was equally impressive, thanks to the efforts of several Egyptian figures and institutions. However, on the ground Al-Arabi was the maestro who led the orchestra.

The second achievement took place when Al-Arabi served as a judge at the UN-affiliated International Court of Justice in The Hague, succeeding the renowned international jurist the Algerian diplomat Mohammed Bedjaoui. In this capacity, Al-Arabi issued outstanding legal opinions, whether when he constituted part of the majority decisions and advisory opinions, or when he had a dissenting opinion.

One of the most important of his contributions at the ICJ was the ICJ consultative opinion in 2004 regarding the construction by Israel of a wall between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the West Bank.

There is no doubt that the passing of Nabil Al-Arabi is a great loss. However, there is equally no doubt that his great legacy will stay with us and future generations for many years to come.

The writer is a diplomat and commentator.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 5 September, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly