What distinguishes the current conflict in our region is the fueling of differences and the tensions between brothers and yet calm and truce between rivals and enemies. There is now an escalation of disagreements between Saudi Arabia and Iran and a resultant mobilisation of support for Saudi Arabia against Iran which the Arab League has now become caught up in. The tension between Egypt and Turkey have become daily news in the media and this negatively reflects on the preparations for the Islamic summit which is supposed to take place in Ankara in April 2016.

At a time when ties are being strained between Iran and most of the Arab countries all Iran’s pathways to the major Western capitals including Washington have been opened. Thus Iran has reconciled with the ‘Greatest Devil’ and entered into a dispute with Saudi Arabia and its relations with most of the GCC states have deteriorated.

Surrounded by these disputes and confusion Israeli leaders look satisfied and happy because they are the major winner in what is going on. Israel has maximised its security cooperation with more Arab states and has started to talk about friendly relations with its Arab neighbours.

I recall here the famous saying of Jamal Hamadan teacher of political geography and author of “The Character of Egypt” who used the term “the golden triangle of regional power”. In his book “The Strategy of Colonisation and Liberation Cairo 1978”. Hamadan was counting on these powers to achieve the intended renaissance in the Arab world and Middle East. He considered Egypt as one of the heads of the regional power triangle which also included Turkey and Iran. This thought was accompanied by a map of the Arab World in which he explained the power triangles in the East and the West in addition to the golden triangle of those three countries.

The current maps have foiled Hamadan’s dream. The unity of the three regional powers has collapsed and the situation has become worse. There is a setback and a dispute so bad that it is bringing us close to war similar to the wars between the Ottomans (Sunni) and Safavids (Shia) in the 16th and 17th century.

The current conflicts have unveiled the disturbing volume of the vacuum from which the Arab world is suffering. Within this vacuum a rational mind has become a rare coin. This vacuum has made Arabs lose the compass needed to find their way towards establishing a suitable strategy that gives priority to the supreme interests of the Arab nation. Due to the continuous tensions and escalation of conflicts efforts to solve strategic issues have stumbled and faced difficulties. I do not mean here the Israeli brutality only but also important regional cases such as the situation in Syria Yemen and Libya. The UN Secretary General normally assigns special envoys to countries in the region to help settle disputes and currently he has three envoys in Syria Libya and Yemen. However there is no envoy to settle the disputes between Saudi Arabia and Iran or the conflicts between Turkey and Egypt. Although there is leaked information saying that the Americans are trying to sort out their differences there are still no tangible results on the ground.

Whatever we think about this effort it is still better than nothing. Arabs at the moment lack the elders who can mediate and help to reconcile and narrow the gap between those with differences in order to end disputes. However perhaps they could count on the role of countries historically known for their role in mediation and solving problems between countries and I mean here Algeria and the Sultanate of Oman. I thought that perhaps a role that could be played by the two Secretary Generals of the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organisation in this regard. However I changed my mind when I realised that they are not independent or neutral and this disqualifies them from fulfilling such role. The most important thing here is not to leave the fires to continue burning and Arab countries to become toys in the hands of provokers and inciters while lacking wise elders. Do we need a miracle in the Arab countries to overcome these problems and develop wisdom?

Fahmi Huwaidi is an Egyptian journalist & columnist.