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United States Institute of Peace

Robert Barron

Program Officer, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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Robert Barron is a program officer with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where he manages a portfolio of policy research, conflict analysis, and peacebuilding projects.

Prior to joining USIP in 2018, Barron served as policy assistant to the director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, where he managed and contributed to the institute’s research on the Middle East and served on the institute’s executive leadership team. In 2015-16, he worked as a journalist and editor in Cairo, Egypt, and in 2014 worked in economic development in Cairo.

Barron holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University.

Publications By Robert

Is a Saudi-Israel Normalization Agreement on the Horizon?

Is a Saudi-Israel Normalization Agreement on the Horizon?

Thursday, September 28, 2023

By: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Ambassador Hesham Youssef;  Robert Barron;  Adam Gallagher

In recent months, a drumbeat has built around the U.S. effort to negotiate a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The deal would be a tectonic shift in Middle East geopolitics, but also carries major implications for other actors beyond the three negotiating parties. Israel would, of course, benefit from normalized relations with the Saudis — long seen as the “holy grail” of potential normalization agreements for the country. The Saudis, in turn, would see their interests advanced through strengthened U.S partnership in key areas. But this deal could also have serious implications for the future of the Palestinian national movement and, further afield, for the role of China in the Middle East.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Peace Processes

Robert Barron on the Violence in the West Bank

Robert Barron on the Violence in the West Bank

Monday, February 6, 2023

By: Robert Barron

After an especially violent month in the West Bank, a two-state solution seems as distant a prospect as ever — leaving many “worried that we could be witnessing a spiral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as no one seems inclined “to take the steps that would be required to realize a two-state solution,” says USIP’s Robert Barron.

Type: Podcast

Takeaways from Blinken’s Trip to the Middle East

Takeaways from Blinken’s Trip to the Middle East

Friday, February 3, 2023

By: Robert Barron;  Caroline Dibble;  Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Garrett Nada;  Ambassador Hesham Youssef

The Middle East has not been a high priority for the Biden administration thus far, with issues such as Russia’s war in Ukraine and escalating tensions with China taking precedence. However, recent developments in the region are catching the administration’s attention, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank earlier this week sought to reaffirm U.S. engagement in the Middle East amid political turnover in Israel, spiraling violence in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, stepped-up Iran-Israel tensions and a deepening economic crisis in Egypt.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Peace Processes

For Israelis and Palestinians, a Tragic Spiral Reemerges

For Israelis and Palestinians, a Tragic Spiral Reemerges

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

By: Robert Barron

Since late last week, violence between Israelis and Palestinians has rapidly escalated in the West Bank and around Jerusalem, and January has proven to be one of the most violent months in the West Bank in decades. Attacks continue, exacerbated by bitter publics, frenzied politics and fragile institutions in the West Bank. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be in a spiral toward a third intifada and even the possible end of the two-state paradigm.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Peace Processes

How Do Israeli and Palestinian Youth View the Prospects for Peace?

How Do Israeli and Palestinian Youth View the Prospects for Peace?

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

By: Robert Barron

Amid this year’s rising tide of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, a new poll released last week by Khalil Shikaki and Dahlia Scheindlin brings more sobering news. In the study, pollsters found that in Israel, for the first time, support for a nondemocratic regime (unequal rights between Israelis and Palestinians) is stronger than a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trends among young people are especially striking — only 20 percent Israeli Jews aged 18-34 are in favor a two-state solution to the conflict.

Type: Blog

Peace Processes;  Youth

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