Welcome to the President's Inbox, a CFR podcast about the foreign policy challenges facing the United States.

I'm Jim Lindsay, Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This week's topic is U.S. Policy in the Middle East.

Thank you. topic is U.S. policy in the Middle East. With me to discuss America's past, present, and future policy in the Middle East is Stephen

Cook. Stephen is the E&I Enrico Mattai Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa

Studies here at the Council.

He's also a columnist at Foreign Policy Magazine.

Stephen is the author of the new book, The End of Ambition, America's Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East.

Stephen, thank you for coming back on the president's inbox.

And congratulations on the publication of your new book.

Many thanks, Jim.

It's a great pleasure to be back on the president's inbox.

And I owe you a debt of gratitude because you were a reader of my manuscript

and you offered many, many excellent criticisms and comments that have

made the book a better manuscript.

Well, thank you for those kind words, Stephen.

I enjoyed reading the manuscript.

But before we dive into what you argue in the end of ambition, I'd like to tell our listeners how they can obtain a free copy of

the end of ambition. To do so, they should go to cfr.org forwardleaning slash giveaway. Let me repeat that.

CFR.org forward leaning slash giveaway. There they can read the terms and conditions for the giveaway

and register an entry. The registration for the giveaway will remain open until June 17. After that,

we will select 10 names at random to receive a free copy of The End of Ambition.

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