UConn Abrahamic Programs: 10 Years On

President Donald Trump’s policy toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region via the Abraham Accords exemplifies an increasingly transactional and top-down conception of normalization in the region, one that emphasizes diplomatic agreements among governments as the principal mechanism for advancing regional cooperation and stability. Within this framework, regional integration is largely understood as a process driven by political leadership, strategic bargaining, and interstate diplomacy. UConn Abrahamic Programs, established in 2016, have pursued a markedly different vision. Since their inception, the programs have emphasized people-to-people engagement, intercultural dialogue, educational exchange, and civil society partnerships as essential foundations for sustainable coexistence. Rather than treating normalization as an outcome achieved primarily through a top-down process and diplomatic agreements, the initiative approaches it as a gradual social process that depends on trust-building, mutual recognition, and meaningful interaction among individuals and communities across religious, cultural, and national boundaries. We argue that our Abrahamic work has been largely successful despite certain setbacks due to political developments and intermittent conflict episodes in the MENA region. Reflecting on the first decade of the UConn Abrahamic Programs provides an opportunity to assess the achievements, limitations, and broader significance of a university-based model of grassroots peacebuilding during a period marked by profound regional transformation and ongoing conflict. Although the scalability of such mechanisms beyond the university context remains uncertain, the UConn Abrahamic Programs’ first decade demonstrates that they are, at the very least, an essential complement to efforts to achieve enduring peace and sustainable regional integration.