OIC Leadership in 1974: Aspirations and Aftermaths

Author(s) : Erum Gul Sajid

Abstract:

The dawn of 1970s observed trendy foreign policy by the leadership of the Muslim World. Following the 1967 Arab-Israel War the Muslim countries entered into a new era of political and socio-economic cooperation through a joint platform of Organization of Islamic Conference. Arab-Israel conflict became the immediate cause of its formation, and the initial fervour, emotions were manifested in high aspirations at Lahore, in 1974. The emerging young leadership represented largely the general support of their respective countries. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan, Colonel Qaddafi of Libya, President Houari Boumedienne of Algeria, Shah Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Jafar al Namiri of Sudan, and PLO’s Yasser Arafat were at the top of the pyramid. They tried to configure an independent Muslim World Order by exploring alternatives other than becoming a US or a Soviet client or with the new defunct Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The prospects for future of the Muslim Ummah seemed progressive, however, the aura of this leadership dispersed soon as this leadership got through ill fate leaving their followers dispersed on the way to achieve the proposed objectives in the 1974 Summit. This study makes an effort to explore why this aura has wiped out gradually, portraying these leaders culprits in their own homelands.