Gulf States

Much of the commentary surrounding the deal has focused on what it portends for the Palestinian issue and other Israeli relationships, but it may say just as much about the four rival factions that have crystallized in the region since 2011.

Bahrain, Israel, and the UAE must now focus on the practical steps required to scale up their relations, including efforts related to civil aviation, banking, tourist sites, and more.

The Yemen Matrix is a guide to the relationships between the core actors involved in the country’s various conflicts. It is meant to be a starter resource for new analysts, a quick-access volume for policymakers, and a refresher for experts.

The fact that American rather than Russian mediation helped broker a major Middle East peace agreement is a blow to Putin’s ongoing quest for restored great-power status.

Selling the advanced U.S. jet to a foreign government ought to signal the highest confidence in that country’s warfighting capabilities, decisionmaking on the use of force, and commitment to protecting sensitive technology, but the UAE’s record on each of these issues is mixed.

The Palestinian issue has become far less of a priority for most Arab states, who now tend to see Israel as a bulwark against regional threats and a partner on urgent health, water, and food-security needs.

The Washington meeting between the United States and Qatar, overlapping with the Israel-UAE signing ceremony on normalization, creates a unique opportunity to resolve the dispute between U.S. allies.

Skillful U.S. and Arab diplomacy could use normalization and the accompanying annexation freeze as a base for renewed momentum toward an eventual two-state solution.

With careful diplomacy, blunt discussion of national interests, and reciprocal steps on the ground, a group of like-minded Arab states could advance Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking while still preserving the API’s core.