Low Option.

If there was one thing Arab states had hoped to convey during their emergency summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in March, 2003, it was unity against war with Iraq. Instead, they could not have appeared more divided. But, behind the scenes, the Arab states are actually more united than they appear in public. They all would like to see Iraq's territorial integrity preserved post-Saddam, and they all want the postwar reconstruction effort to have an international imprimatur. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other powerful Arab states are adamant that any post-Saddam Hussein government not be truly representative. The overwhelmingly Sunni Arab leaders fear that a Shia leadership in Iraq would be subject to influence from Shia Iran. They also fear that democratic representation might embolden democrats in their own countries. Consequently, several Arab states are trying to ensure that Iraq remains dominated by Sunnis. The Arab leaders would prefer that a Sunni military leader take power in a post-Saddam Iraq, but, given Washington's call for democracy, Arab nations have started considering an alternative structure that still would fulfill their goals: an Iraqi leadership that included a representative from each of the three main ethnic groups.