Arab socialism (,
Al-Ishtirakiya Al-‘Arabiya) is a political ideology based on an amalgamation of
Pan-Arabism and
socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialist thought in the
Arab world, which predates Arab socialism by as much as fifty years. The term "Arab socialism" was coined by
Michel Aflaq, the principal founder of
Ba'athism and the
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, in order to distinguish his version of socialist ideology from the international socialist movement.