Intelligence Squared US Debates | Unresolved: Shifting Power in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia and Iran are vying for regional dominance. Turkey is cozying up to Russia and China. And instability, conflict, and proxy wars have engulfed Syria, Yemen, and beyond. How should the United States respond to shifting power in the Middle East?

Staged in our “Unresolved” format, this debate brings together five foreign policy experts to tackle pressing questions on geopolitics in the Middle East, including: Is Trump right on Saudi Arabia? Is the world safer without the JCPOA? And is Turkey an asset to NATO?

Michael Doran − Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute & Fmr. Sr. Director, National Security Council

Michael Doran is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in Middle East... read bio

Reuel Marc Gerecht − Senior Fellow, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies & Fmr. CIA Case Officer

Reuel Marc Gerecht is a former case officer for the CIA, where he served as a Middle Eastern targets officer with... read bio

Bernard Haykel − Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University

Bernard Haykel is a professor of Near Eastern Studies and the director of the Institute for Transregional Study of... read bio

Brett McGurk − Fmr. Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS

Brett McGurk served as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS at the U.S. Department of... read bio

Barbara Slavin − Director, The Future of Iran Initiative, The Atlantic Council

Barbara Slavin is the director of the Future of Iran Initiative and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic... read bio