Author and Former Advisor to President Trump, Dr. Walid Phares and Former White House Advisor, Bijan Kian say it would be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse the progress made in the Middle East during the Trump Administration because Middle Eastern youth have changed their priorities and the culture.
“Something amazing has happened with the Abraham Accords and it is something that, just like JCPOA, cannot be reversed culturally,” said Kian in an interview with The Foreign Desk’s editor-in-chief, Lisa Daftari.
“This is a psychological, cultural shift.”
“The Middle East has changed. Youth in the Middle East have changed their priorities,” confirmed Phares.
“What many of our politicians do not know is that there is a new youth in the Middle East. That’s why this reform is possible in Saudi Arabia. That’s why the UAE is moving forward. That’s why Egypt basically has millions and millions of people who rose against the Islamists,” said Phares.
Phares, who has decades of experience engaging in dialogue with Palestinians, says that even within the Palestinian community, the youth are “looking forward for change, and change for them is peace, and peace for them is not just to get a job but to get freedom. They want to be free in their own society.”
Phares criticized the far-left for pushing for partnership with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as those are the groups oppressing moderate Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
“I’m pretty confident that we’re going to see even another revolution within the Palestinian community that would want to join the Abraham Accords, and it is very smart for the Trump Administration to devise the Abraham Accords first, create the Arab coalition, and within that circle, you can bring in the Palestinians, not the other way around,” Phares said.
Trump’s policies are also “overwhelmingly” supported by the people of Iran who view the last four years as “meaningful, diplomatic engagement” entirely separate from the 38 years of Iranian history prior, Kian explained.
“Yes, the maximum pressure campaign is painful for the people of Iran, but it has worked,” Kian said.
To watch the interview, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_yel--OgPw
