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Thursday, August 6, 2026
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. / Eastern Time
Registration is NOT REQUIRED to view the program.
Submit questions to the specialists: questions@ncusar.org
Background and Context
Please join the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ panel of leading experts—Drs. April Alley and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen and Colonel David Des Roches—to discuss the recent escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict and simultaneous negotiations and its effects on the Middle East region and the world. In recent days, the conflict has spread in new ways to Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, including reports of explosions, new attacks, accusations, and preparations for further military action, in the Arab Gulf, the Red Sea, and beyond.
However, these developments also come at a time of renewed negotiations, at least with mediators about a new deal on the table. Negotiations between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz also continue. Meanwhile, the United States has had a shifting position as President Trump has announced then called off threats of military action while claiming peace talks were ongoing as a War Powers Resolution failed in the Senate.
Our experts on Gulf state, Yemen, and military affairs will discuss various aspects of the crisis and regional and global implications. Will the Red Sea become another chokepoint closed by Iran’s allies? What military options do the United States or the Gulf States have in containing Iran and the Houthis? Will the global energy crisis take a turn for the worse? And can Yemen’s frozen conflict be resolved?
The discussion will provide a comprehensive assessment of the crisis and the forces driving it, as well as new insights into how the United States and the Gulf States may be impacted and what options they may have for reaching peace.
Welcoming and Introduction:
- Dr. William Lawrence, Senior Academic and Research Fellow-in-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations | Bio
Moderator:
- Dr. Abderrahim Foukara, Distinguished Fellow for U.S.-Arab Affairs and Media Leadership, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Former Washington D.C. Bureau Chief, Al Jazeera | Bio
Speakers:
- Dr. April Longley Alley, Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute; Former Senior Political Advisor to the Special Envoy to Yemen, United Nations | Bio
- Col. David Des Roches (U.S. Army Retired), Principal, Thayer Marshall Institute | Bio
- Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy; Co-Director, Middle East Energy Roundtable | Bio