Of the foreign policy challenges that face the new administration in Washington, perhaps none is more significant than that of the Middle East. From spawning terrorism to supplying the bulk of the world’s fuels to destabilizing Europe with a wave of migration, its problems reverberate far beyond its borders. Under the Obama administration, Iran and Russia have been allowed to supplant the United States as a regional hegemon, and the result has been destabilizing to the point of threatening the international order. The region is of vital American interest, and the United States must reclaim a role and shape a policy that acknowledges and confronts the strategies pursued by both Tehran and Moscow. To this end, the group of scholars and intellectuals who came together under the auspices of The Herbert and Jane Dwight Working Group delved deeply into these questions. Their analysis and proposals lay the groundwork for a strategy going forward.
