25
September 2017
Past Event
The Trump Administration and the Middle East: What Should America Do Next?

The Trump Administration and the Middle East: What Should America Do Next?

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
September 25, 2017
Armored vehicles belonging to Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units near Tal Afar, August 31, 2017 (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
Caption
Armored vehicles belonging to Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units near Tal Afar, August 31, 2017 (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
25
September 2017
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Lee Smith

Former Senior Fellow

michael_doran
Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

Michael O’Hanlon

Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Peter Rough Hudson Institute
Peter Rough

Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Europe and Eurasia

“Donald Trump promised to do a great deal more in the Middle East than his immediate predecessors, but with much less,” Hudson Institute fellows Michael Doran and Peter Rough wrote recently in Mosaic magazine. “That is, he would achieve significantly more than Barack Obama at a much smaller sacrifice of blood and treasure than was incurred under George W. Bush. This he would accomplish by defining American interests sharply and pursuing them aggressively, not to say ruthlessly. The result would be a global restoration of American credibility and, as Trump never ceased to remind voters, renewed global respect.”

Nearly nine months into his term in his office, has President Trump followed through on his promises regarding Middle East policy? Doran and Rough argue that America’s big problem in the region is still Iran. In a written response to the article, Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution contends that America is not in a zero-sum contest with the Iranians.

On September 25, Hudson Institute held a frank discussion on the future of U.S. Middle East policy with Doran, Rough, and O’Hanlon. Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Lee Smith moderated the panel.

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