CAIRO (AP) — Long thought of as a useless talk shop or stage for political theater, the Arab League is seeking to transform itself with the seismic changes from the Middle East’s revolts. It has shaken off decades of near total submission to the will of the region’s leaders, and reformers inside the league want to turn it into a voice for the Arab public.

The 21-member group is far from becoming an Arab version of the European Union, where member states have surrendered significant powers to the commission in Brussels, allowing it to enforce rules on anything from monetary policy to immigration. In the Arab world, governments remain entrenched against anything they see as infringing on their sovereignty.

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