The broad sweep of history, at least as it pertains to the Arab-Israel imbroglio, is the struggle between ideology and pragmatism. When the latter wins, so does peace.
That, in a nutshell, explains why two Arab countries recently announced peace with Israel.
Overnight in Washington, the United Arab Emirates signed a treaty with Israel. Joining the leaders on the White House lawn was the Bahraini king, who announced on Friday his country’s decision to do the same. These are truly historic events.
Until August this year, two Arab countries had made peace with Israel in 72 years. Now, two more have in the last few weeks. Historic they may be, but these moves aren’t entirely out of the blue.
They are the culmination of a two-decades-long trend, and make much more sense when the strategic environment of the modern Middle East is understood.
The region is divided into three unofficial groups. Within these groups, members share interests or end goals and often (but not always) act in concert.
The first group consists of most of the region’s states and is what might be called the ‘status quo ante’ bloc.
All Sunni, all Arab, and all dictatorships or kingdoms, they pine for the regional stability of late last century.
Their populations were quiescent, the region was stable and the US was the unchallenged regional hegemon and security guarantor.
Read the article by Bren Carlill (ZFA) in The Canberra Times.