New PEACE Act Mandates Abraham Accords Training for All US Diplomats, Establishes Expert Advisory Board

The Promoting Education on the Abraham Accords for Comprehensive Engagement Act, or the PEACE Act, is all about making sure the State Department’s foreign policy team is fully up to speed on recent Middle East peace agreements. Think of it as mandatory, specialized training for diplomats who handle the region, ensuring they know the history, the players, and the practical application of the Abraham Accords and similar normalization deals with Israel.

The Diplomatic Crash Course

This bill mandates a significant institutional shift in how the State Department trains its staff. The Secretary of State must now ensure that U.S. diplomats and staff working on Middle East issues receive thorough training on these normalization agreements, going beyond basic policy briefings (SEC. 2). This isn't just a memo; the bill authorizes the creation of entirely new training programs and courses at the Foreign Service Institute, dedicated solely to these accords, including the older peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan (SEC. 3).

For the busy State Department employee stationed anywhere in the world, this means new digital training modules are coming. These online courses will cover the core ideas and diplomatic effects of the agreements and will be available to all Department of State employees. The goal is to standardize knowledge, making sure everyone is operating from the same playbook when it comes to supporting these diplomatic relationships.

Building the Brain Trust: The Advisory Board

Perhaps the most interesting structural change is the creation of the Abraham Accords and Normalization Advisory Board (SEC. 5). This isn't just another internal committee; this is a nonpartisan board composed of four experts in diplomacy, Middle Eastern studies, and peacebuilding. Crucially, the members aren't picked by the Secretary of State alone, but by key Congressional leaders—the Chair and Ranking Member of both the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees.

This board’s job is to advise the State Department on curriculum development and strategy for this new training. However, there’s a catch: their recommendations require unanimous agreement to be submitted. If they can’t all agree, the State Department gets no formal advice. Furthermore, while the State Department must include the board's recommendations in its reports to Congress, it only has to “clearly explain” why it decided to ignore any advice (SEC. 6). This setup creates a check on the State Department’s curriculum design, but the requirement for unanimity could lead to gridlock, slowing down the development of essential training materials.

Fellowships and Real-World Experience

Beyond the classroom, the PEACE Act pushes U.S. diplomats into the field through new fellowship and exchange programs (SEC. 4). The Director General of the Foreign Service can now award grants for officers to work directly with counterparts in countries that have normalized relations with Israel, or with regional organizations involved in implementing the accords.

For a mid-career Foreign Service Officer, this means a chance for a short or long fellowship working with a university, an NGO, or a government group in a country like the UAE or Bahrain. This provision is designed to translate policy theory into practical diplomatic skills, fostering the kind of on-the-ground relationships that are necessary to make these agreements stick. While this enhances diplomatic capacity, it also means a dedicated allocation of State Department resources—time, personnel, and budget—toward this specific foreign policy area, potentially drawing focus from other regional priorities.