Events

In October 2019, the Trump administration ordered American troops to withdraw from northern Syria, where the U.S. had been working with Kurdish forces to fight the Islamic State. Soon after, Turkey, a NATO member, invaded parts of Syria. American vice-president Mike Pence urged the Turks to declare a cease-fire. However, it was Putin’s Russia that prevented Turkey from invading. In September 2020, an official ceremony hosted by the White House announced that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have agreed to recognize Israel’s sovereignty and establish full diplomatic relations. In March 2023, Saudi Arabia and Iran surprised the world with a joint statement that the two major Gulf powers would resume diplomatic relations. This time, the mediator was China. In May 2023, Turkish President Erdogan extended his rule into a third decade. What do all these developments mean for the future of the Middle East? Can the U.S. maintain a strong presence in the region despite these radical changes? In this one-time lecture, Dr. Gurses will address the shifting balance of power in the Middle East against the backdrop of intense competition and rivalry between several major regional and global powers.