The death of Kuwait’s 91-year-old Emir Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah in late September served as a reminder to the origins of the United States’ enhanced military involvement in the Arabian Gulf region, which go back to the Iran-Iraq war, including the “tanker war” and the reflagging of local vessels, and then to the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and two American-led coalition wars against Saddam Hussein’s regime. Ever since the second one, American Presidents have tried to extricate their forces from Iraq without paying too much in regional security and stability. The dilemma is that if the Americans stay, Iran exploits it against a week government in Baghdad; and if they pull out, in line with a rare wish common to both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the vacuum is filled by Iranian proxies as well as by Jihadi groups such as Daesh. How is the new government, led by American protege Mustafa al-Kadhimi, faring under these conditions? Panel: – Jonathan Hessen, Host. – Amir Oren, Analyst. – Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Project Director on Middle East Developments, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. – Dr. Fadi Essmaeel, Research Fellow Institute for Counter Terrorism in Herzliya.

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