What Normalizing Relations Could Mean for the Middle East

Posted: August 15th, 2020

By Norman T. Roule

Norman T. Roule is a geopolitical and energy consultant who served for 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, managing numerous programs relating to Iran and the Middle East. He served as the National Intelligence Manager for Iran (NIM-I) at the ODNI from 2008 until 2017. As NIM-I, he was the principal Intelligence Community (IC) official responsible for overseeing all aspects of national intelligence policy and activities related to Iran, to include IC engagement on Iran issues with senior policymakers in the National Security Council and the Department of State.

The White House’s surprise announcement this past week that Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are formally normalizing relations was met with both open arms and claims of deceit by neighbors in the region.

The normalization agreement comes with a promise by Israel to suspend its efforts to annex parts of the West Bank for the time being. Critics argue that the deal, which follows a 1979 normalization of relations with Egypt and a 1994 normalization of relations with Jordan, leaves very little for the Palestinians, whose governing authority promptly withdrew its Ambassador to the UAE in protest, deeming the accord a ‘betrayal’.

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