With dictators and autocrats, struggling democrats, vicious terrorists, petrodollars, and a possible regional arms race, the Middle East presents a series of unique challenges for the next administration. Regional democracy promotion, once viewed as the best approach for alleviating the appeal of terrorist ideologies, has lost traction. Iran continues its march toward a nuclear weapon--announcing the installation of four thousand centrifuges in August--and aspirations for regional hegemony. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s veto power threatens to obstruct democracy through political gridlock. As political stalemate between Fatah and Hamas persists in the Palestinian Authority, the peace process in Israel has ground to a halt. While the security environment in Iraq has improved and political reconciliation moves forward, policymakers must decide when to begin drawing down U.S. forces without compromising progress.

What strategies should the next president employ to ensure positive outcomes in the region? What balance should be struck between short-term tactical goals and long-term strategic imperatives? And how will regional actors perceive a changed American political scene? Discussing these and other questions will be Jon Alterman, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Middle East Program; AEI resident fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht, who specializes in the Middle East; former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Clinton administration assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs Martin Indyk, who now directs the Saban Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution; and Vance Serchuk, foreign policy adviser to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-D-Conn.). AEI’s vice president for foreign and defense policy, Danielle Pletka, will moderate.