Kazakhstan Joins Abraham Accords: Where's the 'Democracy Promotion' Budget?
Kazakhstan, a nation repeatedly flagged by Human Rights Watch for suppressing dissent and limiting political freedoms, is about to ink its name on the Abraham Accords. The FT notes this 'Muslim-majority state is first to join pact since start of Gaza war, despite existing diplomatic relations with Israel.' (Financial Times) What they omit is that these accords are less about regional harmony and
more about brokering alliances against Iran—and securing lucrative defense contracts. The US, which ostensibly champions democracy, openly facilitates these deals, overlooking domestic repression in nations like the UAE or Bahrain for a strategic alignment that primarily benefits Netanyahu's government and its military-industrial complex. One might wonder if the US State Department now considers
'normalized relations with Israel' a hallmark of 'democratic progress.' The pattern is clear: dictatorships and monarchies find swift favor and substantial military aid under the Accords, while the human rights of their own citizens, to say nothing of Palestinians, become mere footnotes. How many more authoritarian regimes will 'pivot to peace' while their populations face crackdowns, all in the
name of a US-brokered pact built on exclusion, not true reconciliation?