Syria - International cooperation

Syria is a founding member of the UN, having joined on 24 October 1945, and belongs to ESCWA and all the nonregional specialized agencies except WIPO. It is a charter member of the Arab League, set up in 1945 to foster cooperation in foreign and domestic affairs. Syria also belongs to G-77 and OAPEC.

Between February 1958 and September 1961, Syria and Egypt were joined in the United Arab Republic. During that period, the UAR was technically joined with Yemen in the United Arab States, though with little practical effect. Another federation, established formally in April 1963 between Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, was never implemented; it was officially terminated in July 1963 after Nasserite loyalists attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow Syria's Ba'athist regime. On 1 January 1972, Syria formally became part of the Federation of Arab Republics, with Egypt and Libya; the federation also had little practical effect because of a deterioration in Egypt's relations with Syria and especially with Libya. In June 1974, Syria and Jordan established a joint commission to coordinate foreign and military policy. Subsequent efforts to establish unions with Iraq and Libya bore little fruit. Diplomatic relations between Syria and the United States, which had been suspended after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, were resumed on 16 June 1974, after US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger successfully mediated a Golan Heights disengagement agreement.