Understanding the latest tensions in the Middle East from a military perspective

Subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

The U.S. drone strike that killed Major General Qassim Suleimani has heightened tensions between the U.S. and the Middle East. This week, Iraq’s Parliament voted to remove 5,000 U.S. forces from the country, and Iran fired more than 20 ballistic missiles at two U.S. military bases in Iraq. Joseph Westphal, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Inaugural Chang Sun Term Professor at Penn’s Lauder Institute, discusses his perspective on the process that occurred leading up to last week’s strike against Iran, the state of U.S. relations with the Middle East over the last two years, and what to expect moving forward from both a military and economic perspective.

Comments

New This Week

Does Your Insurance Protect You From Climate Risk?

Does Your Insurance Protect You From Climate Risk?

May 19, 20263 min read

Research from Wharton’s Parinitha Sastry reveals how climate risk is being mispriced in mortgages and property insurance, leaving homeowners to pay the price.

Should AI Nudge You or Tell You What to Do?

Should AI Nudge You or Tell You What to Do?

May 19, 20267 min read

Research from Wharton and INSEAD shows that even accurate AI advice can have surprising costs.

How Rwanda Is Using Drones to Improve Health Care

How Rwanda Is Using Drones to Improve Health Care

May 19, 20266 min read

Drones are helping hospitals in Rwanda better manage their blood supplies, and a new Wharton study shows patients are the biggest beneficiaries.