Hi everybody, I'm John Donbass, host and moderator of Intelligent Squared U.S. debates.

In this episode, we are focusing on the Middle East as we do at least every other season,

if not more often.

So many moving parts, so many layers of uncertainty, so many stress lines that no pundit, no policymaker,

and no U.S. president for that matter has really ever been able to figure it all out, which

is what makes strategic questions about this region we think so very debatable.

So that's what we did.

We debated them.

Our theme for the debate you're about to hear is, unresolved shifting power in the Middle

East.

And our use of the word unresolved is very deliberate.

It's how we signal that we think there is so much to dig into in the topic, so many cross-currents,

that over the course of this program, we actually argued through three separate resolutions,

one after the other, and we brought five debaters to the stage, deliberately an odd number,

each of them flying solo, each taking a position of yes or no on these resolutions.

And fourth, the debate began.

Our live audience at the Symphony Space Theater in New York City voted on all three motions,

and at the end you'll find out which arguments they found most persuasive.

The relationships between Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and the U.S. are changing every day.

This debate was recorded on September 12, 2019.

Let's meet our debaters, first ladies and gentlemen.

Please welcome Rolmar Garek.

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