FMEP/MEI Webinar series: 

The Implications of the Israel-UAE Deal

On August 13th, President Trump announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to “finalize a historical [sic] peace agreement” that would involve full normalization of relations between the two nations. Trump stated: “Not since the Israel-Jordan peace treaty was signed more than 25 years ago has so much progress been made towards peace in the Middle East.”

In this context, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and the Middle East Institute (MEI) invite you to join a 2-part webinar series: The Implications of the Israel-UAE Deal. These 2 webinars, co-moderated by FMEP’s Lara Friedman and MEI’s Khaled Elgindy, will explore what the Israel-UAE deal does (and doesn’t) mean, the political context that led to it happening now, and its implications for the future. Details/sign up for Part 2,  “U.S. Expert Perspectives,”  below. You can watch a recording of Part 1 – “Israeli & Palestinian Expert Perspectives” here.

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Part 2 – U.S. Expert Perspectives on the Israel-UAE Deal 

 September 2, 2020, 11am EDT

RSVP

Featuring:

Annelle Sheline, Quincy Institute

Steven Cook, Council on Foreign Relations

James Zogby, Director of Zogby Research Services

Join us for a discussion with US experts to examine the geopolitical context that led to and enabled the Israel-UAE deal and the implications of the deal with respect to Gulf politics. The conversation will look at the potential shifts in and regional alignments, including the possibility of further normalization between Gulf states and Israel. We will also discuss what this new alignment means with respect to Iran, and what it portends for security in the region, including with respect to military/security cooperation and weapons sales.

Panelist bios

Annelle Sheline is a research fellow for the Middle East at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a nonresident fellow with the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East. Her research focuses on religious authority in the Middle East, specifically the intersection of religious and national identities in the Arab monarchies. She analyzes the implications of combating violent extremism and encouraging religious tolerance in Jordan, Morocco, Oman and Saudi Arabia. In addition to academic writing, her public commentary has appeared in The Washington Post, The Global Post and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. @AnnelleSheline

Steven Cook is Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is an expert on Arab and Turkish politics as well as U.S.-Middle East policy. Cook is the author of False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East; The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square, which won the 2012 gold medal from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Ruling but Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. @stevenacook

James Zogby is managing director of Zogby Research Services, LLC (ZRS), specializing in research and communications. He is the author of Arab Voices (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. @jjz1600

Moderator bios

Lara Friedman (co-moderator) is the president of FMEP and a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer. With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Friedman is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. @LaraFriedmanDC

Khaled Elgindy (co-moderator) is senior fellow and director of the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at MEI. He is the author of the newly released book, Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump (Brookings Institution Press, April 2019). Elgindy previously served as a fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution from 2010 through 2018. Prior to arriving at Brookings, he served as an adviser to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations with Israel from 2004 to 2009, and was a key participant in the Annapolis negotiations of 2007-08. Elgindy is also an adjunct instructor in Arab Studies at Georgetown University. @elgindy