United Arab States United Arab States The United Arab States (UAS) was a short-lived confederation of the United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria) and North Yemen from 1958 to 1961. The United Arab Republic was a sovereign state formed by the union of Egypt and Syria in 1958. The same year, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (North Yemen), which had already signed a defense pact with Egypt, joined with the new state in 1958 in a loose confederation called the United Arab States. One reason for this decision was the fact that, for a long time, Yemen had felt threatened by its considerably
United Arab Republic with Syria, favoring instead a federal union. However, Nasser was "more afraid of a Communist takeover" and agreed on a total merger. The increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party, under the leadership of Khalid Bakdash, worried the Syrian Ba'ath Party, which was suffering from an internal crisis from which prominent members were anxious to find an escape. Syria had had a democratic government since the overthrow of Adib al-Shishakli's military regime in 1954, and popular pressure for Arab unity was reflected in the composition of parliament. When on 11 January 1958 al-Bizri led a Syrian delegation composed of military