View source for Arab Islamic Republic

{{Short description|Proposed unification of Tunisia and Libya}}
{{Distinguish|United Arab Republic}}
{{Essay-like|date=October 2009}}
{{Infobox Former Country
| native_name            = {{native name|ar|الجمهورية العربية الإسلامية}}<br />{{nowrap|{{small|{{transliteration|ar|al-Jumhûriyya al-Arabiyya al-İslâmiyya}}}}}}
| conventional_long_name = Arab Islamic Republic
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| image_flag             = Drapeau de la République Arabe Islamique (Union tuniso-libyenne).svg
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| flag_type              = Flag
| image_map              = Arab Islamic Republic (centered orthographic projection).svg
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The '''Arab Islamic Republic''' ({{langx|ar|الجمهورية العربية الإسلامية|al-Jumhūriyya al-ʿArabiyyah al-Islāmiyya}}) was a proposed [[Political union|unification]] of [[Tunisia]] and [[Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Libya]] in 1974, agreed upon by [[List of heads of state of Libya|Libyan head of state]] [[Muammar Gaddafi]] and [[President of Tunisia|Tunisian President]] [[Habib Bourguiba]]. Additional countries—[[Morocco]] and [[Algeria]]—were later included in  the proposal, which was never implemented.
{{Life in the Arab League}}

With the death of Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in September 1970, Muammar Gaddafi sought to establish himself as the figurehead of [[Pan-Arabism]]. After a failed attempt at rapprochement between his country and Egypt, he turned to Tunisia. In December 1972, President Bourguiba expressed his disagreement with a proposed union. But on January 12, 1974, the two presidents, meeting on the Mediterranean island of [[Djerba]], agreed on an agreement providing for a union of their countries within an Arab Islamic Republic (AIR), which would have only one constitution, one army, and one flag.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/servlet/BMEve/1408 |title=Dévoilement de l'accord de Djerba entre la Tunisie et la Libye |website=perspective.usherbrooke.ca |date=12 January 1972 |access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref>

==Regional context==
The attempted merger between Tunisia and Libya took place in a historical and regional context. [[Maghreb]]i regional politics played a role embedded into the constitutions of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria is the ideal of Maghrebi unity,<ref>Aghrout, A. & Sutton, K. (1990). Regional Economic Union in the Maghrib. ''The Journal of Modern African Studies'', 28(1), 115</ref> however contradicting this ideal is the competing interests of Morocco and Algeria, the region's two major powers. According to Tunisian scholar Habib Slim, "if there were only Algeria and not Morocco, or Morocco and not Algeria, there could never have been a Maghrib. The major power would have swallowed us all up. To have the Maghrib you need those two rival powers competing with each other in the region".<ref>[[Mary-Jane Deeb|Deeb, M. J.]] (1989). Inter-Maghribi Relations Since 1969: A Study of the Modalities of Unions and Mergers. ''Middle East Journal'', 43(1), 22</ref> Thus attempts at unification within the Maghreb were more often than not the means by which to counterbalance one or both of the region's major powers.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Additionally, Pan-Arabism influenced the politics of the Arab world. Muammar Gaddafi was a well-known proponent of this ideology and had thus worked to achieve union with several Arab states such as Egypt, Syria, Sudan and Tunisia. He also sought union with Chad. Tunisia was initially suspicious of Gaddafi's intentions, but the Libyan leader visited [[Tunis]] in February 1971 and December 1972,<ref name="Wright, J 2008">Wright, J. 2008. ''The Emergence of Libya''. London: Silphium Press, 344-5</ref> and, in a rally in that city during the latter visit, spoke of supporting a union between Libya and Tunisia.<ref name="Wright, J 1981">Wright, J. 1981. ''Libya: A Modern History''. London: Croom Helm, 165</ref>  Hearing the speech by Gaddafi live at his home over the radio, President Bourguiba rushed to the rally where, after he let Gaddafi finish, he took to the stage and denounced the idea that "the Arabs had ever been united, dismissed all of [Gaddafi's] ideas about rapid Arab unity, and even took the Libyans to task for what he described as their own lack of national unity and their backwardness".<ref name="Wright, J 1981" />  Close Libyan-Egyptian ties troubled [[Maghreb]]i leaders who feared the proximity of [[Egypt]] on their eastern borders and thus worked to pull Libya away from Egyptian influence.<ref>Deeb, M. J. (1989). Inter-Maghribi Relations Since 1969: A Study of the Modalities, Unions and Mergers. ''Middle East Journal'', 43(1), 23</ref> At the fourth annual [[Non-Aligned Movement]] conference in [[Algiers]], Bourguiba called for the unification of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya to form a "United States of North Africa", a move which he qualified by proposing it take place in stages over an "unspecified period of time".<ref>Deeb, M. J. (1989). Inter-Maghribi Relations Since 1969: A Study of the Modalities of Unions and Mergers. ''Middle East Journal'', 43(1), 24</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3QEAQAAIAAJ&q=%22united+states+of+north+africa%22|title=Africa Research Bulletin|date=October 21, 1973|publisher=Blackwell|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Djerba Declaration==
On 11 January 1974, the Djerba Declaration was signed by Bourgiba and Gaddafi, which committed the two states to becoming a single state, to be named the Arab Islamic Republic.<ref name="Simons, G 1993">Simons, G. 1993. ''Libya: The Struggle for Survival''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 253</ref>  The agreement was signed on the island of [[Djerba]] and thus, is also known as the Djerba Declaration<ref name="Simons, G 1993" /> or the Djerba Accord. Referendums were scheduled in each country to vote on the issue. The spontaneous tactic in trying to gain unity with another state on the part of Gaddafi displays a different approach than the previous union attempt with Egypt, where long negotiations did not work out.<ref name="ReferenceA">Wright, J. 1981. ''Libya: A Modern History''. London: Croom Helm, 165.</ref>  It is possible that Bourguiba was the original pursuant of a union between Libya and Tunisia, as Bourguiba wanted a regional ally and also wanted to "wean Libya away from Egypt".<ref>Deeb, M. J. "Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" in ''The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa. 4th ed''. David E. Long and Bernard Reich eds. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 386. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r2ArLdzYH_kC&q=%22arab+islamic+republic%22 Google Books]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (April 4, 2008).</ref>

The union agreement was a surprise to observers, as it had been thought that Bourguiba did not support the idea, in part due to tensions brought about by the speech by Gaddafi in Tunis in December 1972. This change in support could also have been influenced by the presence of 30,000 Tunisians working in Libya at the time and helping the Tunisian economy.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>  As Tunisia suffered from a labour surplus, a foreign debt of one billion <!-- one billion what?--> and a lack of natural resources, a closer economic union with the resource-rich but labour-poor Libya would have been an attractive alternative.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121023145009/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911064-2,00.html "Broken Engagement"]. January 28, 1974. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.</ref> Why Bourguiba decided to agree to the union is not completely known, but it is known that the Djerba agreement was seen with suspicion by Tunisians and Algerians, as well as outside these states both regionally and internationally.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

The Arab Islamic Republic was supposed to have "a single constitution, a single army, and a single President."<ref name="ReferenceB">Simons, G. 1993. ''Libya: The Struggle for Survival''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 253.</ref>  Under the agreement, Bourguiba was to be president, but Gaddafi wanted to keep the Ministry of Defence.<ref>El-Kikhia, M. O. 1997. ''Libya's Qaddafi: The Politics of Contradiction''. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 121</ref>  Prior to the Djerba Declaration multiple agreements dealing with singular, separate issues had been arranged between the two states on "trade, customs duties, investment, regulation for migrant workers, social security, and the creation of a joint shipping company",<ref name="ReferenceB" /> but the agreements were not publicly noted as pursuing a union of the two states. Support for the unity beyond Bourguiba came from others within the Tunisian government, thinking that it would further benefit the Tunisian economy; the most prominent supporter was [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Tunisia)|Tunisian Foreign Minister]] [[Mohamed Masmoudi]].<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The length of time the union lasted is contentious, with one source saying it lasted one month, while another says it lasted only a single day and a third indicating it lasted a few days.<ref>El-Kikhia, M. O. 1997. ''Libya's Qaddafi: The Politics of Contradiction''. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 21; Simons, G. 1993. ''Libya: The Struggle for Survival''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 254; Wright, J. 1981. ''Libya: A Modern History''. London: Croom Helm, 166.</ref>   What is known though is that Tunisia reconsidered the deal soon after signing it, as Tunisia was supportive of economic benefits gained from the union, but not for giving up Tunisian sovereignty.<ref name="ReferenceC">Simons, G. 1993. ''Libya: The Struggle for Survival''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 254.</ref>  Thus, as the Tunisian [[Socialist Destourian Party]] (PSD) resisted the union plans due to their view that the arrangement was not clear enough and did not include how political institutions would be structured, Bourguiba rescinded his decision to form the Arab Islamic Republic.<ref name="ReferenceC" />  The referendum in Tunisia was postponed to 20 March 1974, as announced on 12 January 1974.<ref>{{cite news |title=Libya and Tunisia Agree to Merge; Plan Referendum |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 13, 1974}}</ref> Following Bourguiba's removal of Tunisia from the agreement, the biggest supporter of the union, Tunisian Foreign Minister Masmoudi was fired.<ref name="ReferenceC" />

Before the agreement was dissolved, Gaddafi had thought that one merger within the region would lead to regional unification and ultimately unification of the Arab world.<ref>Wright, J. 1981. ''Libya: A Modern History''. London: Croom Helm, 166.</ref>  Following the union's inception and fallout, Bourguiba's judgement and capacity to lead Tunisia was questioned after he announced the union with Libya.<ref>Borowiec, A. 1998. ''Modern Tunisia: A Democratic Apprenticeship''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 34.</ref>  Bechir Ben Yahmed, a Tunisian journalist noted, "For me, he [Bourguiba] died in January, 1974, in Djerba, when during several minutes of face-to-face with Gaddafi, he signed, on hotel stationary, that famous charter of union."<ref>Borowiec, A. 1998. ''Modern Tunisia: A Democratic Apprenticeship''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 34</ref>

==Failure of the Djerba Declaration==
As a consequence of the ideological differences, there was also a considerable divergence as to what the merger would look like. As understood by Bourguiba, the states themselves would not dissipate, but rather their borders would become "cooperatively permeable" through "functional integration",<ref name="Zartman, I. W. 1987">Zartman, I. W. (1987). Foreign Relations of North Africa. ''International Affairs in Africa'' (Jan), 18.</ref> in a similar manner to the contemporary [[Arab Maghreb Union]], formed over a decade later. Conversely, Gaddafi was more interested in a complete merging of Libya and Tunisia into the Arab Islamic Republic.{{cn|date=November 2024}}  He saw Libya as a revolutionary movement rather than a territorial state. Gaddafi felt that they were one people, and that the borders were only a product of the ruling elites and imperialist division by conquerors.<ref name="Zartman, I. W. 1987" />

Finally, there were the regional political factors. As has been mentioned before, Libyan-Egyptian relations were steadily deteriorating following 1973. In light of the reduced Egyptian threat, Algeria felt it no longer necessary and even undesirable to merge with Libya and was not in favour of Tunisia doing so either.<ref>Deeb, M. J. (1989). Inter-Maghribi Relations Since 1969: A Study of the Modalities of Unions and Mergers. ''Middle East Journal, 43''(1), 26.</ref> Thus, within twenty four hours of the Republic's announcement, Algeria threatened Tunisia with military intervention if Tunisia went ahead with the unification.<ref>Deeb, M. J. (1989). Inter-Maghribi Relations Since 1969: A Study of the Modalities of Unions and Mergers. ''Middle East Journal, 43''(1), 25</ref> There were also accusations of Tunisian foreign ministers being bribed by Libya.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}  As a result, the unification with Libya never happened and relations between the two countries steadily deteriorated.

==See also==
* [[Arab Maghreb Union]], an economic and political union between Maghreb states
* [[Federation of Arab Republics]], a weak union between Libya, Egypt, and Syria around the same time
* [[Pan-Arabism]]
* [[United Arab Republic]]
* [[Arab Federation]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/11/77/56/82/image510.jpg Newspaper bulletin for the referendum on the Arab Islamic Republic]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080624125914/http://www.african.gu.se/maho/miscmaps/air.html Map of the Arabic Islamic Republic]
{{coord missing|Libya|Tunisia}}
{{Arab nationalism}}

[[Category:1974 in Libya]]
[[Category:1974 in Tunisia]]
[[Category:Arab nationalism in Libya]]
[[Category:Arab nationalism in Tunisia]]
[[Category:Former Arab republics]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:Libya–Tunisia relations]]
[[Category:Pan-Arabism]]
[[Category:Proposed political unions]]
[[Category:Islamic republics]]
[[Category:Nasserist states]]