Great Decisions - The Middle East: Regional Disorder

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The Great Decisions Series is a part of the Great Decisions World Education Program.  Experts offer presentations on global issues and U.S. foreign policy.  

As the presidency of Donald Trump passes the halfway point, the Middle East remains a region in turmoil.  The Trump administration has aligned itself with strongmen in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, wihch along with Israel have a common goal of frustrating Iranian expansion.  What will be the fallout from policy reversals such as withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear accord and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem?  Does the United States see a path forward in troubled states such Syria, Yemen, Libya aned Iraq?  Is the United States heaed toward war with Iran?

Beth K. Dougherty, PhD, is Manger Professor of International Relations and Professor of Political Science at Beloit College.  She received her MA and PhD in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. Since joining the Beloit faculty in 1996, she has taught a broad range of international politics courses, including U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East, the U.S.War on Terror, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the politics of mass killing, human rights, and nationalism and ethnic conflict.  She has received both campus and national awards for innovative teaching.   Her main research interests are transitional justice, focusing on the cases of Sierra Leone and Iraq, human rights, and Iraqi politics.  Her most recent publication is A Historical Dictionary of Iraq.