Simon Henderson is the Baker Senior Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Articles & Testimony
The summit could yield tentative agreements on any number of issues, from Arab-Israeli peacemaking to energy and arms deals.
Overshadowing President Trump's talks with Emir Tamim will be the tension on Israel's border with Gaza (where Qatar has funded Palestinian reconstruction) and the growing pettiness of the split with the Saudis (who have proposed to dig a canal that would make the Qatari peninsula an island). But these events could shift Middle East diplomacy out of its rut. A deal, perhaps even two, just may be possible—opening up Israel's relations with the Arab world, and creating a more united front against Iran...
