One year on from the murderous attacks of 7 October 2023, the Middle East is in the middle of an escalating regional war. This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of ECFR’s MENA programme; Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy director of ECFR’s MENA programme and Iran expert; and Hugh Lovatt, senior policy fellow in ECFR’s MENA programme and an expert on Israel-Palestine, to discuss the present and future of the Middle East.

How will Israel respond to Iran’s recent attacks? Will it seek to press home its advantage and attack its nuclear programme? How might Iran try to recreate its deterrence after the decapitation of Hizbullah? How is it thinking about the role of proxies, public opinion, and nuclear weapons? What are the longer-term prospects for the region and for Israel and Palestine? And what is the role of the United States in the region?

This podcast was recorded on 8 October 2024. 

Bookshelf: 

River of Smoke: A Novel (The Ibis Trilogy, 2) by Amitav Ghosh  

The Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor by Nathen Amin  

Israel’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment in the Middle East by Stephen M. Walt  

The Journey by Francesca Sanna 

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