Avi Melamed

Since the Iranian Mullah regime seized power in Iran in 1979, their goal has been to become the regional superpower. Over the last decade, Iran has increased – and quite successfully - its attempt to establish its crescent of influence, described by King Abdullah II of Jordanian as "The Shiite Crescent." The Iranian regime has stated that their policy to build and control a land corridor stretching from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea is “vital for Iran’s strategic interest and national security.” Due to regional and global events, Iran’s Corridor - which would ensure constant instability and increased bloodshed – was a foregone conclusion. And that development, as the King of Jordan warned – is very bad news for the region. However, regional and global developments may result in a change of course and the process of Iranian expansion - once thought inevitable - might actually be curtailed. What has generated this change? How would the reduction in Iranian power impact the region?

In the second decade of the 21st Century the 20th Century Middle East disappears, and a new – yet at the same time old, Middle East emerges. This briefing provides the building blocks necessary to understand the Arab and Muslim world of yesterday and today and provides you a GPS so you can navigate the region on your own - and perhaps even predict where the future may lead...

A smoking volcano erupted into the Arab Awakening. The aftershocks - including the War in Syria, the widening Sunni-Shi’ite rift, and the escalating Arab-Persian power struggle have brought about a tectonic plate movement that is shaping a new Middle East. This lecture takes you beyond the headlines and on a complex and fascinating journey deep into the heart and minds of the Big Players and their Proxies and Pawns. Who are the major players? Who serves them? How do the proxies and pawns impact the reality of millions of people? Who really benefits from the existence of ISIS? How do factors like the Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah, the Palestinian Sunni Hamas, and Iraqi Shi’ite Militias view their role and place in the new Middle East? In the Middle East nothing stands alone - everything is connected like links in a chain. “The Game of Pawns” gives the road map to follow the links and the lenses to see the multidimensional, multi-faceted reality of the Middle East today.