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Of: TT
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Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT
Middle Eastern insider Anders Persson at Linnaeus University. Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT / Code 50090
Several of its predecessors have failed. But US President Donald Trump may go down in history as a peacemaker in the Middle East, says expert Anders Persson.
Sudan’s capital Khartoum was the host when the 1967 Arab League Congress declared its three famous no: no to peace with, no to recognition of, no to negotiations with Israel.
The fact that Sudan is now normalizing relations with Israel carries both political and symbolic weight, says Middle East expert Anders Persson of Linnaeus University.
– Sudan is a classic ally of the Palestinians, he says.
More countries in progress
In connection with Trump’s presentation of the news, the US president stated that several Arab countries are lining up to join. Anders Persson believes that they are more than empty words.
– There is no doubt that Trump’s peace train continues to move at a fairly high speed. I really believe in him when he says there are more countries on the way.
“Pressed harder”
The month before the Sudanese message, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel. Why has Trump succeeded where his predecessors failed?
– I think it has put pressure on countries much more than on others. If an American president really wants something, it usually happens. Then there is the dealer. The UAE was allowed to buy fighter jets, with Sudan it is a question of aid and debt relief, says Anders Persson.
– Since then, the stars are right. There are structural factors that spoke in Trump’s favor that may not have existed under Obama, such as that Iran has moved forward and that oil prices are low.
Persson describes the recent agreements as a historic turning point.
– I have no problem praising Trump for this, then there are problems such as the exclusion of the Palestinians.
Trump does the opposite
In much of the world community, optimism has been mixed with more caution than is often the case when signing peace agreements. Perhaps, Anders Persson says, because Trump has approached the issue from a completely different angle than conventional.
– From a European perspective, we believed that peace would start with Palestine. Trump did the opposite.
– If you read the agreements, it does not say anything about democracy, women’s rights or international law. It is commerce, technology and exchange. But maybe you couldn’t expect anything more.
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