Follow us on social

Shutterstock_1816983452

Why should we be celebrating a year of Abraham Accords?

Blinken is commemorating Israel 'normalization' tomorrow but these agreements are about conflict with Iran, not regional peace.

Analysis | Middle East

A year into the Abraham Accords, it is clear that the agreement has only delivered arms sales, but no peace.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to deteriorate, de facto annexation of Palestinian territory proceeds all the while the U.S. embrace of the agreement signals American endorsement of this negative status quo. Rather than advancing American interests by promoting peace in the region, the U.S. is helping cement conflict under the guise of forging reconciliation between three countries that never have been at war. 

Yet things can get even worse. At a time when the U.S. should be reducing its military footprint in the region, the accord could bring America back into war in the Middle East by lowering the bar for Israeli military action against Iran. Any military confrontation between Israel and Iran will likely suck in the U.S. as well. As the Quincy Institute's Steven Simon wrote in his June brief on the subject, the risk of the accord playing this destabilizing role is particularly acute if talks to revive the Iran nuclear agreement collapse. 

Moreover, the accord undermines prospects of finding true peace in the region between Israelis and Palestinians. Recognition of Israel was always a means to an end — not an end in and of itself. The accord flipped this on its head and offered recognition without any movement on the Israeli-Palestinian front, further reducing Israel's incentives to compromise with the Palestinians. Not surprisingly, all the countries who have signed onto the accord have either done this under duress or due to American — not Israeli — concessions on other matters.

Sudan was coerced into signing on lest it wouldn't get off the U.S. terror list. Morocco was offered a major shift on the U.S. position on West Sahara. The UAE was offered F35 fighter jets — advanced American weaponry the Emiratis want in order to bind Washington to the security of their authoritarian state. None of these trade-offs do anything to bring peace to the Middle East, nor do they, in the final analysis, advance U.S. national security.


Washington DC, USA - September 15, 2020: Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan attend the Abraham Accords ceremony in The White House. (noamgalai/shutterstock)
Analysis | Middle East
Diplomacy Watch
Top Photo Credit: Diplomacy Watch

Diplomacy Watch: Europe plans to ‘outgun’ Russia

Europe

While pushing to negotiate with Russia on Ukraine, President Donald Trump simultaneously claims Europe should spend more on the war effort — and on defense, generally.

During his presidential campaign, Trump suggested he’d encourage Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" against NATO countries spending under 2% of their GDP on defense. And since winning the election, Trump has upped his suggested spending percentages, saying NATO countries should aim to spend 5%. He repeated this call on Thursday during his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

keep readingShow less
Jenin
Top image credit: Palestinians walk next to heavy machinery and an armored vehicle on a damaged street as they leave Jenin camp during an Israeli raid, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

Gaza in the rearview, Israelis turn tanks and guns onto West Bank

Middle East

Most attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the past 15 months has focused on the Gaza Strip, given the devastating Israeli assault that has reduced most of that territory to rubble.

But the larger occupied Palestinian territory — the West Bank, along with what Israel has defined as East Jerusalem — never ceased to be on the front line of the conflict. During those same 15 months, more than 800 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by either the Israeli military or Jewish settlers, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

keep readingShow less
Russian soldiers Ukraine
Top photo credit: Russian special forces at a check point in the Zaporizhia region, February 2024. (Shutterstock/Sergey Nikonov)

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a military meeting (President of Russia photo)

Russia races for Ukranian mineral wealth before a potential ceasefire

Europe

Russia has spent the past five months swallowing up ever bigger tracts of Ukrainian coal, lithium, and uranium in the Donbass. Yet Western politicians still cling to the belief that they will be able to tap these resources to repay Ukraine’s ever mounting pile of debt. This is economic madness.

In the summer of 2024, most Western politico-military commentators were predicting that Russia was focussed on storming the strategically important military hub of Pokrovsk in Donetsk. Russian troops had advanced slowly, inexorably westward in a straight line following the bloody attritional battle for Avdiivka which was captured in February 2024.

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.