WATCH: Navigating Middle East Relations: Tensions, Conflicts, and Alliances

U.S. policy in the Middle East has consistently been a defining challenge for every presidential administration. Experts and analysts agree that over the last five years, a significant paradigm shift has dramatically altered the region’s geopolitics. This shift encompasses signs of stability, such as the Abraham Accords and the 2023 Iran-Saudi rapprochement, alongside more recent conflicts like the Hamas-led October 7th attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. Other factors include the power vacuums left in Syria and Lebanon, the Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel, and Israel’s targeted assassination of Yemen’s Houthi-backed Prime Minister. These developments underscore the political volatility, civilian harm, and pivotal turning points that are shaping the region. All of this occurs amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, which remains a central focus of international debate and a critical question about U.S. leadership in the Middle East.

As alliances realign and conflicts intensify, the stakes for U.S. policy remain high. How will the current administration navigate the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas and address Iran’s regional influence, amid mounting national security concerns? How might multilateral institutions more effectively respond to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza? And what role can U.S. allies and partners play in advancing diplomacy and stability in the region?

Ambassador (ret.)Jeffrey Feltman joined Ambassador (ret.) Susan Elliott, President and CEO of the NCAFP, in conversation about U.S. policy priorities amid the region’s evolving dynamics. This program was a George D. Schwab Policy Briefing.

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Ambassador (ret.) Jeffrey Feltman joined the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program in June 2018 as the John C. Whitehead Visiting Fellow in International Diplomacy. He is also a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation. He serves on the governing boards of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and the American Academy of Diplomacy, and he is on the advisory boards of Amsterdam-based Dialogue Advisory Group and Fundación Acordemos. Ambassador Feltman was the first U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, from April 2021 until January 2022. From 2012 until 2018, Ambassador Feltman was U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

Previously, he was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. From 2009 until 2012, Ambassador Feltman was the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Prior to his 2004-2008 tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, he served in Erbil, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Tunis, Amman, Budapest, and Port-au-Prince.

Ambassador (ret.) Susan M. Elliott is an accomplished diplomat with an earned doctorate from Indiana University. During her 27-year diplomatic career, Ambassador Elliott held a variety of leadership positions at the U.S. Department of State. She became President and CEO of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in August 2018.

From 2015 to 2017, Ambassador Elliott served as the Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of the United States European Command. Ambassador Elliott was the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan from 2012 to 2015. Prior to her Ambassadorial appointment, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Her previous overseas assignments also include Minister Counselor for Political Affairs in Moscow, Russia; Principal Officer in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Deputy Economic Counselor and Visa Section Chief in Athens, Greece.