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Comment by baskire | Hacker News Reader

Article forgets the biggest of them all. Peace in the Middle East.

Not once in my life did I think 2020 would be the year when many middle eastern countries sign peace deals with Israel. Heck there’s already Israeli Jewish weddings in Dubai!!!

The us government who helped broker these deserves a peace prize. If not with their help and assistance these peace deals would not have occurred.

I look forward to what 2021 will bring with the Middle East better aligned to future industrial and cultural growth.

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No, the chances for real, long-lasting peace in the Middle East have actually ended with this year (or at least, this presidency).

While 4 years ago there was some hope, it is now impossible to imagine that:

(1) there will ever be a peaceful 2 state solution to the Palestinian crisis

(2) there will ever be another deal between the US and Iran

The fact that a handful of arab states have agreed to join Israel's side instead of Palestine's is in no way an end to the threat that the conflict between the two creates.

And let's not forget that the war in Yemen is still ongoing, with US military support for the aggressor, Saudi Arabia.

The countries involved weren't really all that hostile to each other, though. More Seinfeld vs. Newman than Hatfields vs McCoys.

Some of them weren't even that, with the two countries already having unofficial trade, security, and diplomatic relations and this new deal just making it official. And they got or will get US arms deals out of it.

It will take quite a while to see if these agreements actually make the region more peaceful or they were just going through the motions to get access to US arms.

In the case of the Morocco deal, there is a decent chance it will lead to more violence, due to it including the US recognizing Morocco's claims over the disputed Western Sahara.

Which war was ended by the signing of these peace deals?

I agree, though I would say "several" instead of "many". There are, I think, four countries. That leaves 10 or 20 to go, depending on how you define "middle eastern".

Fair enough. Even a single peace deal would have been a huge accomplishment. The fact there’s multiple in one year is awesome.

Gives me hope than we’ll see a peace deal with the West Bank and Gaza Strip within the decade.

It's way to early to know if these deals will make any lasting difference. The countries in the middle east have been parties to similar pease agreements for decades, but so far they don't seem to last.

If the peace continues to last, sure, we can acknowledge those who were involved. But it's way to early to acknowledge anything yet.

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