There are also major substantive caveats to Mr. Trump’s fanfare. For all of the White House’s talk of historic Middle East peace deals, Israel was not in an actual state of conflict with either the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain. But Israeli news reports say that Serbia is balking at Israeli recognition of Kosovo and will not open an embassy in Jerusalem after all if that happens. The Balkans look easy by comparison to Afghanistan, where Mr. Trump is pursuing a comprehensive peace agreement to allow for a total withdrawal of American troops there. But as talks opened on Saturday, even optimists acknowledged that a durable peace remains a distant goal amid surging violence and countless political obstacles.

Source: New York Times September 12, 2020 14:26 UTC