It's hard to imagine an Arab country, if it were democratic, striking a peace deal with Israel today. Whether that's a strike for or against democracy is another question

Of course, it's not exactly an accident that Israel, one of the region's few democracies, prefers that its Arab neighbors not be democratic

If democracy in Arab countries would entail a much lower likelihood of peace deals with Israel, democracy would still be serving its purpose: to reflect public sentiment and allow citizens and elected officials to express their preferences on controversial foreign policy issues

Even if 'no peace deals with Israel' is a bad substantive outcome, that has no bearing on democracy's goodness or badness. In this sense, democracy is its own end: its goal is to give agency and choice to citizens and reflect popular preferences