Recently, Israel has improved its relations with the Gulf. This development was formalized via the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain and the silent approval of Saudi Arabia. The normalization between Israel and the Gulf is the result of a process some 20 years in the making, as 27 years have passed since Rabin, Arafat and Clinton signed the Oslo Declaration of Principles, which for the most part is now inactive. The questions that arise are how these accords can potentially affect the regional balance and whether more accords are likely to come.

 

 

Among the promises the U.S. President Donald J. Trump has made is the formulation of a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue. To that end, the task was assigned to Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the White House and his son-in law.[1] However, the details of the plan known as the “Deal of the Century” are yet to be released. In the meantime, recent developments, generated by the actions taken by the U.S. administration and their implications on the both Israel and Palestine need to be taken seriously into consideration, as they directly influence the already fragile situation on the ground.

For the past five years, US President Barack Obama has appeared committed to putting an end to decades of conflict in the Middle East, and to striking a deal between Israelis and Palestinians that can bring about a two-state solution. Obama’s decision to make Middle East peace a centerpiece of US foreign policy has been an audacious political gamble. This article seeks to explore why finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been so close to Obama’s heart, and assesses the chances of the success of yet another attempt to resolve the Middle East impasse. 

Ακόμη και στις πιο σκοτεινές στιγμές διεθνούς απομόνωσης και δυτικών πιέσεων ένα πράγμα δεν μπορούσε να ισχυριστεί κάποιος, ότι είναι δυνατόν να αγνοήσει το Ιράν χωρίς να πληρώσει ιδιαιτέρως βαρύ τίμημα. Σήμερα η συζήτηση για το συριακό ζήτημα περιστρέφεται γύρω από την συμπεριφορά κρατών, όπως η Ρωσία, η Τουρκία ή ακόμη και η Γαλλία, ενώ φαίνεται να παραγνωρίζει τον κεντρικό ρόλο του Ιράν. Θα τολμούσαμε να ισχυριστούμε ότι χωρίς κάποιες από τις παραπάνω ή και όλες τις παραπάνω δυνάμεις το συριακό ζήτημα μπορεί να επιλυθεί, χωρίς όμως την Τεχεράνη (και βεβαίως τη Ριάντ και την Ουάσιγκτον) δεν μπορεί.

Aaron David Miller, former US Middle East advisor and negotiator, wrote a historical analysis of American diplomacy in the Arab-Israeli peace process. Miller sets out to record the history of negotiations based on his personal involvement. His book contains a variety of anecdotes and portraits of the leading personas. Each of the four parts is dedicated to the fate of the American promise of achieving peace in the "much too promised land".