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  • Should We Stay Or Should We Go? The Future of the US Presence in the Gulf

    November 10, 2026

    11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

    Zoom Webinar

    Defense and Security, Great Powers in the Middle East, US Policy in the Middle East, Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, Iran

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    Since the onset of the Iran War last February, the United States has sustained significant damage to its military and intelligence infrastructure across the Middle East in retaliatory strikes. The full extent of these losses remain unreported but the impact on regional US military operations and options has been profound. Near-term setbacks include the loss of key logistical nodes and a retrenchment of personnel and materiel to locations more distant from Iranian threats or away from the region altogether. Looking further ahead, US basing and force posture in the Middle East in the future will undoubtedly be shaped by the lessons of the Iran War and deliberations will need to account for an array of complex factors.

    To discuss this important matter, the Middle East Institute will host an on-the-record webinar featuring Dr. F. Gregory Gause III, Associate Fellow at MEI, and Dr. Kelly Grieco, Senior Fellow with the Reimagining US Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center. MEI Senior Fellow Jason Campbell will moderate.

    Speaker Biographies

    Dr. F. Gregory Gause III is an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Institute and Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University. He is the author of three books and numerous articles on the politics of the Middle East, with a particular focus on the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf.

    Dr. Kelly Grieco is a Senior Fellow for the Reimagining US Grand Strategy Program at the Stimson Center. She has expertise in US military alliances and the security architectures of the Indo-Pacific and Europe, as well as current and emerging airpower strategies and capabilities, including air denial and drone warfare. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University and a Nonresident Fellow at the Brute Krulak Center of the Marine Corps University.

    Dr. Jason H. Campbell (Moderator) is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, where he focuses on international security, geopolitics, and foreign policy. Prior to joining MEI, he was a Senior Policy Researcher at RAND, covering an array of defense and national security issues. From June 2016 through September 2018, he served as Country Director for Afghanistan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy.

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