Over the weekend, the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran, marking a major military escalation in the Middle East that decapitated Iran’s leadership and which the U.S. said aimed to support regime change. Just days before in Geneva, the U.S. had engaged in negotiations with the Iranian regime to limit its nuclear capacities that were reported as constructive, part of a trend many hoped for greater stability in Syria, Lebanon and the broader Middle East.

This event will probe many immediate questions and consider the broader context, including the American goals, the implications, and whether it will lead to escalation, negotiation, or a prolonged conflict.

Free and open to the public. Ticket required, register here. The event will be recorded and livestreamed, sign up to join remotely here.   

The Middle East Initiative is a collaborative effort of the Dickey Center and the Middle Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies Programs at Dartmouth and part of the Dartmouth Dialogues. With generous support from Tal and Ariel Recanati P’21.

Co-sponsored by the Vice Provost for Academic and International Affairs.

---

Susannah Heschel, Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, Chair of the Jewish Studies Program, and faculty member of the Religion Department.  (Moderator)

During the academic year 2025-26 she is the Gerard Weinstock Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Professor Heschel's scholarship focuses on Jewish and Protestant thought during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the history of biblical scholarship, Jewish scholarship on Christianity and Islam, and the history of antisemitism.

Jonathan Smolin, Professor, Middle Easten Studies, and Director, the Dartmouth Initiative for Middle East Exchange (DIMEX).(Panelist)

Professor Smolin is the author of The Politics of Melodrama (Stanford, 2025) and Moroccan Noir (Indiana, 2013). He has also translated six Arabic novels into English, including the forthcoming Exit (Hoopoe, Fall 2026), a bestselling dystopian novel about the Arab Spring by Distinguished Fellow Ezzedine Fishere. At Dartmouth, Professor Smolin teaches Introduction to Middle Eastern Studies, among other courses. 

Ezzedine Fishere, Distinguished Fellow, Middle Eastern Studies (Panelist)
 
Fishere teaches courses on Middle East politics. Before joining Dartmouth in September 2018, he was an associate professor in the Political Science department at the American University in Cairo. Fishere is also a novelist and a former career diplomat. He became actively involved in Egyptian politics during and after the Tahrir Uprising, advising pro-democracy political groups and writing extensively on Middle East political issues.
 
Steven Simon, Distinguished Visiting Fellow with the Davidson Institute for Global Security at the Dickey Center and visiting Dartmouth College lecturer in government and Jewish Studies.(Panelist)

Simon served on the National Security Council in the White House in the Clinton and Obama administration, in the US State Department, and now writes primarily about the nexus between US foreign and defense policy and Middle Eastern politics. His most recent book, Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East, assesses post-World War II US policy through the first term of the Trump administration.