Research Library

On September 13, 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas met at the White House to sign a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements — commonly referred to as the “Oslo Accord.” The Accord stated that Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace.

Five key factors make the Biden administration’s attempts to expand the Abraham Accords in the Middle East likely to fail, writes nonresident fellow Omar Rahman. Instead, regional approaches like the restoration of Saudi-UAE diplomatic relations with Iran are now holding sway.

In April 2023 — 75 years after Israel's founding — diplomats, policymakers and other stakeholders gathered in Baker Hall to explore the past, present and future of the U.S.-Israeli relationship. This report summarizes key points that emerged from the discussions.

It has been 75 years since the passage of United Nations Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. In this episode, scholar Walter Russell Mead offers observations on the past, present and future of the U.S.-Israeli relationship. These remarks were delivered as the closing session at the Israel at 75 conference hosted by the Baker Institute on April 27, 2023. 

Do women experience displacement differently from men? In a compilation of briefs from the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East, the contributing authors — who include scholars from Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Palestine, Tunisia, and Lebanon — explore the experiences of women migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the context of the Middle East and North Africa.

Addressing young refugees’ health needs in adolescence can prevent negative health outcomes in the transition to adulthood and affirms their rights to equitable health access and dignified lives.

A report from center experts on the evolution of Islamist politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, security in the Persian Gulf and displacement in the Middle East.

This report explores the current situation in Palestinian-Israeli dynamics and concludes that the only real solution is a return to the two-state paradigm. Peace and security — for both Israelis and Palestinians — will come through mutual recognition of statehood and clearly defined and respected international borders, the author writes.

Despite the frozen status of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the considerable obstacles to restart them, a U.S.-led effort could help to gradually forge a “Framework Agreement for an Israeli-Palestinian Permanent Peace.” This policy brief outlines the principles that such a framework might embody, with the essential objective of two states for two peoples.

Middle East fellow A.Kadir Yildirim reviews the varied responses of Islamist groups in the Middle East to the Biden presidency and suggests that, in most cases, their reactions were crafted to further their political — not religious — objectives.