 A long time ago, in the not-so-distant past, a group of nations recently liberated from their Western colonial powers realized they had four critical factors in common. The first was their recent good fortunes of independence and autonomy. The second is that they were all Arab. The third was that they were predominantly Muslim in faith. And finally, these nations had always been a part of some empire or another. Their existence as modern countries had never been a reality. In fact, there were no borders previous to independence delineating where each nation began and where each ended. Along with independence came a surge in nationalistic pride and a real belief that the rebirth of a dream that had been attempted after the Great War could be achieved, a single and unified Arab nation. With a powerful feeling of pride and distrust towards the foreign powers and their soon to be Cold War struggle, Arab leaders stepped up to the plate and orated with impassioned speeches to the masses, resonating with the people of their nations. Coming together was the only way to become stronger, regain relevance, and earn the respect of the modern world. Courageous and ambitious slogans were met with widespread cheers. From Northwest Africa to the Arabian Gulf, nationalistic dogma was educated and conditioned into the populations. Momentum for unification rang true with chance of Arab solidarity throughout all capitals of nations. Social, academic, and cultural icons all came out in support of the stream. It was meant to be, until it wasn't. Over the next 30 years, pocketed attempts to establish a republic that would unify at least some of the major Arab powers were put forth, but quickly failed. All set foot with great intentions at unifying at least part of the Middle East for further future integration of more nations, none succeeded in maintaining their belief and journey towards a long term unified reality. Eventually, and after a very short span of time, and as quick as it had started, the concept comprehensively crumbled as Arab on Arab aggression began taking shape. But why did this noble idea collapse so quickly? Because of government were all over the place in the Arab world, there were nations that were monarchies and others that were newly anointed socialist republics. This diversity wasn't serving the ethos or foundation for unity. Further complicating the situation was the question of recently established secularism versus the generally prevalent religious conservatism. Many countries didn't want to tempt religious insurrection at such an early stage of their existence. Social maturity was not widespread. Arab people had only as recent as a generation ago come out of being a part of the Ottoman Empire or its successor, the colonial nations. The strength of the people was still founded on the tribal structure, its interdependence and identity. Letting go of this organizational standard adhered to for many centuries and alternatively assimilating towards a watered down foreign version inspired by Pan-Arab nationalism witnessed significant resistance. Since 1948, a powerful unifying cause for the Arab nation was the liberation of Palestine. In 20 years beyond that and following naive promises made by various Arab leaders, loss after military loss when confronting Israel despirated the Arab population. A cause and ambition that had effectively unified the Arab nation seemed further and further away. Nothing kills the spirit more than a goal that time after time appears unattainable. With the discovery of substantial national resources and parts of the Middle East in the first half of the 20th century, a sudden explosion of wealth for some nations coincided with the spread of poverty in others. This new situation posed numerous threats to the advent of nationalism. Unifying the nations into a single Arab entity also meant unifying their wealth. The rich, although tangibly benevolent to their Arab sister nations, still preferred keeping their riches to themselves. The foreign nations, in turn, were left with resentment. Self and ego are a very difficult thing for us to let go. For an individual, this can be a very daunting subject to come to terms with. Each of us value our uniqueness, autonomy and what we consider as tangibly ours. For our nation and people, this sentiment is multiplied by a million, if not more. The added difficulty to our reality is that even if we are of the same ethnicity, spoken language and faith, there are yet more complexities to us as human beings that play an important role in making us who we are and what we're willing to do or not to do to retain the survival of our independence, especially when we attempt to become part of a new larger whole.