From Ceremony to Strategy

AGDA’s gathering brought senior officials, diplomats, academics, and policy practitioners under one roof. But the mood in the room felt different from the early celebrations of 2020 and 2021. The discussions no longer revolved around “normalization” as an end in itself. Instead, they focused on what comes next: security frameworks, cross-border partnerships, and the increasingly interdependent economic architecture forming across the region.

In other words, the Accords have entered a more serious phase—one that cannot rely on symbolism alone.

A New Framework Emerges

Speakers examined the Accords not as a diplomatic flourish, but as part of the region’s security ecosystem. They acknowledged their stabilizing effect—particularly in a Middle East shaken repeatedly over the past few years—and also their limitations. Cooperation, they argued, cannot be insulated from tensions on the ground, and it cannot succeed without mechanisms that can withstand political shocks.

This is where AGDA seems to see its role: not as a cheerleader but as a bridge between diplomacy, research, and practical policy design.

Cross-Border Networks Quietly Redraw the Map

Perhaps the strongest theme running through the conference was the rise of cross-border networks. Whether in logistics, energy, innovation, or crisis management, cooperation between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco is no longer hypothetical. It is embedded in projects, investments, and institutions.

The Challenge That Cannot Be Ignored

Yet, the seriousness of the moment also carries a warning. Several participants pointed to the vulnerabilities facing the Accords, including public skepticism in parts of the Arab world and political turbulence inside Israel. Without meaningful engagement on the Palestinian question, the Accords risk being seen as elite bargains rather than pathways to genuine peace.

AGDA’s Emerging Role

What AGDA signaled through this conference is that the next phase of the Abraham Accords will require more than diplomatic momentum. It needs intellectual investment, policy innovation, and structured dialogue—areas where academic institutions often do the heavy lifting.

By convening this mix of diplomacy, scholarship, and regional expertise, AGDA positioned itself as one of the key hubs capable of shaping how the Accords evolve. Not by rewriting them, but by deepening them.

The Middle East’s Quiet Transformation

The most honest takeaway from the conference may be this: the Abraham Accords have survived shocks that many predicted would break them. Now they are being asked to do something harder—to grow into a framework that can support a more connected, more stable, and more predictable Middle East.

That shift is underway. You could feel it in the tone of the conversations, in the realism of the proposals, and in the expectation that cooperation must move from headline announcements to durable structures.

And if the discussions at AGDA were any indication, the region is preparing—quietly, steadily, and more seriously than before—to take that next step.