The Middle East is at a “hinge moment,” a period of transformative change where the old order is collapsing, and a new, region-driven multipolar order is emerging. The war with Iran is the most dramatic and consequential development shaping this emerging order; its trajectory and outcome will be definitive not only for the region but for the world. The conflict has reverberated in significant ways: U.S. and Israeli strikes have inflicted major damage on Iran, while Iran’s de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz and its ability to strike its Arab Gulf neighbors have enhanced its asymmetric leverage, potentially reordering regional power dynamics.
The Middle East’s changing order heralds a time of greater volatility, dynamism, and uncertainty. Currently, this transformative moment is marked by deepening conflict. Yet, it also holds the potential for new opportunities for peace and prosperity. In this volatile mix, spoilers one day can become champions for peace the next—and vice versa. Understanding the dynamics at play in the Middle East, the motivations of the region’s key stakeholders, and the inherent risks and opportunities embodied in the changing order will be critical to ensuring that the region ultimately embarks on a path toward peace and prosperity.
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Tuesday, September 15 I 11:00am-1:00pm
* Luncheon Event *
Venue:
Bass Berry & Sims – 21 Platform Way S, Suite 3500, Nashville, TN 37203
Register Now
Featured Speaker: Mona Yacoubian, Director and Senior Advisor of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Mona Yacoubian is Director and Senior Advisor of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She has more than thirty years of experience working in the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on conflict analysis, governance and stabilization challenges, and conflict prevention. She was previously vice president of the Middle East and North Africa Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), where she managed field programming in Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia as well as Washington, D.C.–based staff. In 2019, she served as executive director of the congressionally appointed Syria Study Group. From 2014 to 2017, Yacoubian served as deputy assistant administrator in the Middle East Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she had responsibility for programming across Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. Prior to joining USAID, Yacoubian was a senior adviser at the Stimson Center and a special adviser on the Middle East at USIP.
From 1990 to 1998, Yacoubian served as the North Africa analyst in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and various other outlets, and she has testified to Congress six times. Yacoubian was a Fulbright scholar in Syria, where she studied Arabic at the University of Damascus from 1985 to 1986. She has held an international affairs fellowship with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and is a CFR member. She earned a master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s in public policy from Duke University.
