The Abraham Accords, signed at the White House on September 15, 2020, during President Donald Trump’s first administration, represented a landmark achievement in U.S. Middle Eastern diplomacy. The agreements led to peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco soon thereafter. Israel also initiated a normalization process with Sudan, but this did not lead to the normalization of relations because of Sudan’s domestic turmoil. The overarching goal of the accords was to defuse tensions in the Middle East by normalizing relations between Israel and several so-called moderate Arab states. In return, these nations would gain access to advanced technologies and fresh trade opportunities, motivated by a shared view of Iran as a strategic threat. The plan followed the “Peace to Prosperity” in the Middle East workshop organized in Bahrain in June 2019 by Trump’s son-in-law and then advisor Jared Kushner. Inspiration for the accords came from the idea that geoeconomics could defuse geopolitical tensions by providing financial and economic incentives to circumvent seemingly intractable conflicts.
The Abraham Accords After Gaza: A Change of Context | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
