The Arab League was founded in Cairo in 1945. It initially included Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan since 1946) and Yemen. The number of member states continuously increased during the second half of the twentieth century after the joining of 15 other Arab countries to membership and four countries (Eritrea, Brazil, India and Venezuela) as observers. This organization has faced many international and regional challenges.  Due to the increasing global influence of the United States of America, the Arab League saw its own influence waning. The League members saw the need to reform their system of work, and many attempts were made, but they did not achieve the aspirations of Arab citizens.