Spotlight: The Israel-UAE Normalization Agreement

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to normalize relations with Israel, paving the way for other Arab nations to follow suit. Middle East Forum and staff have followed the warming of Israeli ties with the UAE and other Arab Gulf states closely. All are hopeful, in the words of Daniel Pipes , that Arab-Israeli relations "might begin to exit from the sterile futility of the past seventy-plus years." See the selections at right for recent analyses. To keep abreast of this issue, sign up to the Middle East Forum mailing list .

The Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank, founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, promotes American interests in the Middle East and protects Western values from Middle Eastern threats.

In the Middle East, we focus on ways to defeat radical Islam; work for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; develop strategies to contain Iran; and deal with advancing anarchy. Domestically, the Forum emphasizes the danger of lawful Islamism; protects the freedoms of anti-Islamist authors and activists; and works to improve Middle East studies.

It achieves its goals in three main ways: