Zack, Jenn, and Alex break down the “peace deals” between Israel and two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. They explain what’s in the agreements, how they happened, and why Trump is using the agreements to sell himself as a peacemaker. Then they zoom out and explain what the agreements tell us about Middle Eastern geopolitics — and whether they’re likely to make things better or worse in the region.

References:

You can read the official documents of both normalization deals here.

Vox has articles on the Israel normalization deals with Bahrain and the UAE.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley write in Politico their hope that the deals lead to a better Middle East future.

These articles in Tablet Magazine and the Washington Post tackle, from different angles, how the normalization deals show that previous assumptions about Middle East politics were wrong.

Roger Cohen of the New York Times thinks the normalization process is a “mirage.”

Palestine quit its leading role in the Arab League over the Israel deals.

Hosts:

Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox

Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox

Alex Ward (@AlexWardVox), national security reporter, Vox

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