Iranian nuclear ambitions, the Hamas-Israel conflict, Red Sea shipping crisis, a rogue Türkiye, growing Chinese influence: as usual, the United States and its allies face many major problems in the Middle East. How can Americans develop a comprehensive and intelligible policy? How do the U.S. presidential elections impact regional calculations? What can be learned from past, bitter experience?

John Bolton is an attorney, diplomat, author and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019. He is the author of The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir (Simon & Schuster, 2020). Mr. Bolton holds a BA and a JD from Yale University.