i'm president of the middle east institute. it is my great pleasure to welcome you all today to the 72nd annual conference entitled the middle east in 2019, challenges and opportunities for u.s. policy. i thank you all for joining us today, and want to thank in advance all our panelists, moderators and keynote speakers. our annual conference is our opportunity to bring together some of the leading approximately see makers, leaders to middle east relations to examine together the challenges and the opportunities lying ahead. this event is being covered by a number of tv networks as well as being live streamed. please silence your phones and you are encouraged to tweet at meiconf for conference, meiconf. we are nearing the end of a very exciting year at mei and we will move into it n year and the new building will have a contemporary art gallery, state-of-the-art classrooms and ample office space for various policy, educational, communicational and cultural programs. in the meantime, our temporary home has been a busy hive of act

-middle east relations. the event is being covered by a number of tv networks as well as being live streamed, so please silence your phones. you are encouraged to tweet at iconf. with today's conference, we are nearing an exciting year, it and we are building our headquarters on m street. the new building will feature large conference facilities, state of the art classrooms and ample space for various programs. the meantime, our temporary home on 18th street has been a busy hive of activity every week with panel discussions, conferences and expert roundtables on the region's issues, a vibrant schedule of ,rts and cultural events language classes and other items. so keep up with the institutes, please visit our totally revamped and new website at mei .edu. 2018 was indeed a turbulent year for the middle east and 2019 publicist to be no less challenging. despite pockets of stability and growth, the middle east is still in the throes of confrontation, several ongoing civil wars, dyer .efugee and humanitarian ne

-middle east relations. the event is being covered by a number of tv networks as well as being live streamed, so please silence your phones. you are encouraged to tweet at #meiconf. with today's conference, we are nearing the end of a very exciting year. we are engaged in rebuilding our headquarters. we will move in june of next year. the new building will feature large conference facilities, state of the art classrooms and ample space for various programs. in the meantime, our temporary home on 18th street has been a busy hive of activity every week with panel discussions, conferences and expert roundtables on the region's issues, a vibrant schedule of arts and cultural events, language classes and other items. to keep up with publications or sign up for events or two into our podcast, please visit our totally revamped and new website at mei.edu. 2018 was indeed a turbulent year for the middle east and 2019 promises to be no less challenging. despite pockets of stability and growth, the middle east is still

tom given the outcome that shaped the middle east of today. this is gold more one through our local guy. who. managed to reeky it's an izzy and writer and broadcaster is taking us on a personal journey across a dozen countries. his grandfather's generation fault in the war. so far he's looked at the contributions made by arab north african troops conscripted by the british and french colonial powers in north africa. and out. and why the ottoman empire joins germany in the war. pitting it's our troops against their muslim brothers fighting for the allies. and as alterman fortunes declined how the europeans russians and arrows look to fill the power vacuum. the clock is for michael jordan marianna don't ever with money how about a good many of the libya a little out of it or at this our man at the thought of what to do. in this episode he sees how the shape of a new middle east was decided in secret by british and french diplomats if you look at a map at the beginning of the war you have an ottoman empire that ruled over a tiny sliver of europe

i'm president of the middle east institute. my it's my pleasure to welcome you today to the 72nd annual conference entitled "the middle east in 2019:." i thank you for joining us today. and i want to thank our panelists, moderators, and keynote speakers. this is the opportunity to bring together some of the leading policy makers, experts, and leaders in u.s. middle east relations to examine together the challenges and the opportunities lying ahead. this event is being covered by a number of tv networks, as well as being live streamed. so please silence your phones but you're encouraged to tweet, if you would like to do so at #meiconf. with today's conference, we're nearing the end of an exciting year at mei, we're engaging in rebuilding our headquarters. we'll move into them in june of next year. the new building will feature a contemporary arts gallery, large conference facility, state-of-the-art classrooms, and ample space. in the meantime, our temporary home on 18th street has been a busy hive of activity every week with pan

many more have gone on to be powerhouses here in the middle east. many small businesses play a vital part in the region's economy, even without reaching those dizzying heights. i went on a tour of the city to find out about one of them. could this be the future of travel content and advertising in the middle east? insydo produces a mix of editorial videos and advertising, showcasing their picks for the best experiences in dubai. i've been in dubai now for over seven years. ifirst moved here from london, with the dreams of setting up my own business. and having a city full of so many little gems was a great way to explore the city and actually become an entrepreneur. the atlantis is one of my favourite places in dubai. sites like these make for good content, but also attract millions of tourists and foreign workers alike. something like 92% of dubai's population are expatriates. let's take a quick picture and we'll look around elsewhere. so, this is the insydo office. this woman is the brain behind this operation. i started by asking her how her busi

in the middle east. how the u.s. is maintaining relations with some key allies in the wake of many of these proxy wars is conflicts. the limitations of jc poa and the real implementation of these new sanctions just several days ago and then how this is all having an impact on diplomatic relations with the u.s. i would like to start with what we just heard from david hale where he was talking about the u.s. goals in syria. one of the ones that we have been hearing more and more from the administration is this goal of pushing iran and its proxies out of syria. if we could start there, i would like to go on a broad sense, what do you each see as the iran school in syria, and then the u.s. ability to counter that goal? i guess we will start, you will be in the hot seat first, can. >> sure, thanks very much courtney. i want to thank all of you. it is great to be on this panel with some very old friends. briefly, because obviously i want to talk about this and a lot of different issues. i think iran's goals in syria are to

still causes problems in somalia there are going to be people roaming around the middle east screaming that they're members of isis because it's what one does who are probably in create trouble but it's not it i don't think is even a major problem there overall. certainly far far worse than it was earlier when they control these and when they're able to actually do these massacres that you talked about i'm going to disagree with that a couple of them have to go to so the reason i disagree is a lot of the foreign fighters that have left iraq and syria have gone to places like libya they've gone to southeast asia they've gone to pakistan and afghanistan and so the idea that these are not actual threats to the governments i disagree having spent time in pakistan having traveled through these areas talking to people who are former members of terrorist organizations this is an actual threat to some governments but he's right not to the american government you know you used the phrase earlier of what kabul is not part of the problem that if you've got this organization that can just pop up b

was to create a quarter of across the middle east so he was planning to divide the middle east between france and britain. and create a belt of english controlled country that stretched across from the mediterranean coast to the mountains on the iranian from and back to the century as a as a affront to britain could control and keep other people away from the red sea and the persian gulf. that was rejected by the bunch i wish i were older wiser you know that why work out your article in july one thousand nine hundred fifteen the debunks in committee recommended dividing the ottoman empire into several provinces over which britain would seek influence rather than exercise direct control. but when sykes was sent to the middle east and india he began to revert to his original idea of a british cordon from the mediterranean to iraq. so mark from your knowledge of the other question. where would you say that a legion slot. between us and the french. tragically all arabs approach. not exactly empty french but frightened of financial exploitation and they are frightened of french colonial met

was to create a cotton across the middle east so he was planning to divide the middle east between france and. can. create a belt of english controlled country that stretched across from the mediterranean coast to the mountains of the iranian from and back to the centuries a affront to britain could control and keep other people away from the red sea and the persian gulf. that was rejected by the bunch i wish the older wiser said you know that why work your. way into line one nine hundred fifteen the debunks in committee recommended dividing the ottoman empire into several provinces over which britain would seek influence rather than exercise direct control. but when sykes was sent to the middle east and india he began to revert to his original idea of a british cordon from the mediterranean to iraq. so mark from your knowledge of the other question. where would you say that a legion slot is between us and the french i mean. practically all arabs approach. not exactly empty french but frightened of financial exploitation and they are frightened of french colonial methods. but there are ma

east and to briefly outline my vision as a citizen of the middle east. how these challenges might, in the longer-term, be turned into an opportunity. for a genuine regional peace, stability and prosperity. may i start by thinking the doctor for the work he does to the national council, and for the generous invitation to be here today. indeed, i want to thank all of you for taking the time to be with us, i really appreciate your time and i hope we might have genuinely enlightening discussions on these important issues., john, sometimes your voice and writings are almost alone in supporting our world. thank you. thank you for being an unwavering member of our family, attending every summit that is not to say that that you do not hesitate from time to time to correct or upgrade us if we deserve it. this is also appreciated, honest advice is always welcomed . ladies and gentlemen. of course, the vision for the future must be rooted in the reality of today's challenges. these challenges are both well- known and exceptionally complex. there is yemen, syria, sy

in the middle east, the u.s. is committed to helping arab countries grow the economies to meet the needs of growing populations of the drive towards higher living standards. middle eastern countries compete in the same global market. that means eliminating obstacles to upstream hydrocarbon development removing bottlenecks that limit trade, oil, gas and other resources. in 2019, the u.s. will provide $2.8 billion to arab countries. this assistance is an investment in the well-being of both the middle eastern and american people. helping partners leads to enhance prosperity for all. in my bureau, at the department of state we have technical assistant programs that try to help partners create legal and regulatory frameworks. these are helpful, we hope to facilitate investment in energy infrastructure and liberalizing energy markets. my programs are helping governments build good governance technical capacity they'd be. we engage in numerous technical bilateral exchanges of many partners. in addition we provide techn

between the mediterranean and the middle east. mediterranean and the middle east. and i have come at a special time for this city. for this city. years since this nation finally gained its independence. gained its independence. the birth of modern lebanon. of modern lebanon. ruled here, right up until the end of the first world war. of the first world war. when control was handed to the french. was handed to the french. until 1943 that the struggle the self—rule finally paid off. self—rule finally paid off. died resisting ottoman rule in the name of lebanese independence. name of lebanese independence. byword for sectarianism and conflict. conflict. of this city's historic buildings have been torn down. have been torn down. caused by the war is clearly visible. but it wasn't always this way. way. in the 1960s, beirut was the height of glamour. height of glamour. dubbed the paris of the middle east. of the middle east. epitomise this ideal better than one of the city's 5—star destinations. of the city's 5—star destinations. the calibre of celebrity that have

senate wants more information about what's happening in the middle east with our strategic partner an ally saudi arabia karen do you see it as charles has been basically saying just bush by the senate to. a request for more information from the wind given the fact that the same senate about a few months ago particularly in last blocked the same resolution about yemen. yeah i think actually there are three things going on at the same time and they're competing for head space among members of congress and of the senate in particular right now the first is the investigation which i think his getting more and more pressure to get to the bottom of what happened and to bring at least to bring the cia into the briefings for the senate that's the immediate issue right now i think the second issue is as you've said the war in yemen which is increasingly beginning to imprint unself on the american consciousness i think the devastation of this war the humanitarian crisis has been something that the global community has been paying attention to in a way that it's only now reaching into the househ

tom driven outcome that shaped the middle east of today. this is gold more one through our local high. money to rekey the chin is ian writer and broadcaster is taking us on a personal journey across a dozen countries. his grandfather's generation fault in the war. so far he's looked at the contributions made by arab north african troops conscripted by the british and french colonial powers in north africa. and how and why the ottoman empire joins germany in the war. pitting its arab troops against their muslim brothers fighting for the allies. and as alterman fortunes declined how the europeans russians and arrows look to fill the power vacuum. the. clock is for michael jordan mario on a donor with money out of a good many of libya a little out of the top at this hour my guitar was. in this episode he sees how the shape of a new middle east was decided in secret by british and french diplomats if you look at a map at the beginning of the war you have an ottoman empire that ruled over us tiny sliver of europe all of the anatolian peninsula s

that's not how the middle east works. you can pick and choose the places in which you backup your ally. at no cost to your campaign. to try to delegitimize and reduce the influence of iran. the claim is the distal resolution if it were to pass would hurt negotiations that are scheduled for next month, false. exactly the opposite. the saudi's need to understand that our support is not unconditional. that they actually have to bend at the negotiating table. right now they don't believe they have to do that. in fact, they have been more of this civil war the reluctant party in these negotiations because they believe that if negotiations fall apart and they return to a state of military hostility the united states will give them whatever they need. it's treally important right n for the saudi's as they head into that negotiation to understand that these negotiations don't succeed there are consequences. second, the idea that the who sees are ready to give up the fight and tired is also false. there is no evidence of that. the

interest in the middle east. as a matter of fact, the only geographic command -- today is national defense strategy as dated january this year, still calls on the pentagon to compete, deter, and when, we've got to continue the same online. the calls also for promoting regional stability. part of that is we want to about security, and security, and denying the united states as a safe haven for terrorists, and denying freedom for common domains. how do defense operations help the economy of the united states? let's start with the defense stress transfers, whether it is transfers of services, articles, support the defense base, and to reduce the cost of procurement of our own military. that is one. the u.s. defense industry directly deploys almost 2 million people across the united states. most of these are two high- paying jobs. most individuals, and the companies they work for, i am told the companies listed behind me, represent a key part of american entrepreneurial ship and innovation. they are helping to mainta

policy on the middle east. prominent palestinians came under attack from both sides from the far right jewish defense league of the j d l and from other muslims ismael al photokina of temple university in philadelphia and his wife were stabbed to death at their home by a black muslim. edward saeed himself was attacked his office at columbia was torched and a right wing jewish magazine dubbed him the professor of terror a label that followed him for the rest of his life. well if we cannot have palestina my government was suddenly not allowed britain to control french palestine would be an outrage but then we need to find another solution before we come to blows over a century ago britain and france made the secret deal the change the shape of the middle east and so. now we can draw on the. psychs pekoe lines in the sun on all just. because we're not as sure that. rights are being violated. and free to be stripped away. in the sand here anniversary of the wishes of the whites that stand up. like this stand up for

but it was a different kind of war in the middle east. britain strategy was to capitalize on growing out of nationalist feeling against four centuries of ultimate rule. and the hold up with that minute the key it became a at the age dumb hour and jim yet said we have i don't have either mush. home and i am no i'm in a surety and i mean going to ship at least on the walk i don't and you know what out of what the number one issue any of us a and and yet as i have the here it's our. in one thousand nine hundred fifteen the british high commissioner in cairo so henry mcmahon began negotiating an alliance with a same ben-ali the shot of mecca in the exchange of letters took place between mcmahon and hussein about the possibility of joining some sort of revolt against the ottomans the result of that was that the british promised should be for saying and his sons gold and guns and an arab state or states to be founded after the war was over and in return for that they would declare war on the ottomans. same was also the choice of our of the secr

east is russia replacing or is becoming a key player in the middle east as the u.s. somehow in some way withdraws yes but in a very different way to the to the united states and also you know i think that because i was in afghanistan in the early period i know that russians have no intention of getting over overreaching in the middle east because they're getting their food put through print is syria was very very small so i don't think there's any question of any sort of you know that they're going to fill a vacuum and maybe play the roles of whoever exactly they are doing they are becoming that diplomatic sense of that everyone comes to the russians of playing this very cleverly they have relations with everybody and everyone comes and sees them and it's true that they only diplomatic service that exists in the classic sense of having a diplomatic service that actually goes diplomacy no one else does all roads lead in this sort of these roads lead leads but i. i think it's more than those and i think this would probably be a surprise some of your russian view is but

east so he was planning to divide the middle east between france and britain. and create a belt of english controlled country that stretched across from the mediterranean coast to the mountains on the iranian from an activist that shares a front britain could control and keep other people away from the red sea and the persian gulf. that was rejected by the bunch i wish the older wiser heads said you know that why work your. way into line one nine hundred fifteen the debunks in committee recommended dividing the ottoman empire into several provinces over which britain would seek influence rather than exercise direct control. but when sykes was sent to the middle east and india he began to revert to his original idea of a british cordon from the mediterranean to iraq. so so mark from your knowledge of the air out of the question. where would you say that a legion slot. between us and the french i mean. practically all arabs approach . not exactly anti french but frightened of financial exploitation and they are frightened of french colonial methods. but there are

still causes problems in somalia there are going to be people roaming around the middle east screaming that they're members of isis because it's what one does who are probably entry trouble but it's not it i don't think is even a major problem there overall. certainly far far worse than it was earlier when they control these and when they're able to actually do these massacres that you talked about i'm going to disagree with that a couple of them have to go to so the reason i disagree is a lot of the foreign fighters that have left iraq and syria have gone to places like libya they've gone to southeast asia they've gone to pakistan and afghanistan and so the idea that these are not actual threats to the governments i disagree having spent time in pakistan having traveled through these areas talking to people who are former members of terrorist organizations this is an actual threat to some governments but he's right not to the american government you know you used the phrase earlier of what kabul is not part of the problem that if you've got this organization that can just pop up becau

east after israel saudi arabia as you probably are mostly saying i mean i i mean in the middle east this isn't this doesn't change anything i don't still. mind listening to you seem to overlook an extremely important element in this particular story which is basically a compass mohammed has said man has been somehow depicted as the ultimate chance to . prove full in the arab world and sunday arabia in particular and that and his reign democracy is going to flourish and prevail in the region the man says to be thin skinned couldn't tolerate criticism and he sends people allegedly to dismember someone who just happened to be a journalist criticizing a talk racine saudi arabia. and he was not the first and i'm certain he won't be the last i mean unfortunately this the iron fist of al so do family has been something that has been going on for generations now and it is in this type of behavior is not limited to just saudi arabia there's a number number of other principalities and kingdoms but again of use this very brutal force to control journalism to control freedom of expression throu

yes so instability in the war in the middle east is good for washington in the short term because i mean they sell billions of dollars of weapons to disability so the saudis being involved in war is actually good for business and i think that's something to donald trump made very clear in his recent statement essentially saying that this is part of the america first policy where you know the saudis can get away with what they're doing because they're bringing jobs and money to the united states well i would say i'm sorry i wouldn't really had laid really i would really contest that ok the deals that he's talking about are in the pipeline they're not even really find i mean the bombs on the planes they all came from the bush obama era tom pitts had no input zero impact on arms sales to saudi arabia. at this point i'll give you the last word into iran go ahead yes i would totally agree with that the trump is is an expert in exaggerating numbers but i would say that even if those numbers were true in the long run this kind of policy of supporting an aggressive dictator like m.b.'s is going

and on the middle east. i was a little both concerned and relieved by your remarks because up until today and your speech, the murder of jamal khashoggi has not been mentioned, in addition to the long-standing ties between saudi arabia and the united states, the gulf and the united states, a common concern about human rights, the rights that are violated by the iranian regime and other regimes in the area, also figureses as a common concern for our alliance. you -- i wonder -- it is very clear to me that what has been said so far by the kingdom of saudi arabia, by the government of saudi arabia, has not alleviated concerns about the fate of jamal khashoggi, about what happened to him and who gave the orders and most importantly, as "the washington post" pointed out today, where his body is so that it can be returned to his relatives and family. would you call for an internatrnatnal neutral investigation of this matter behind the investigation -- beyond the investigation which has already been proposed which

so it's a mean, nasty world out there, the middle east in particular. there are important american interests to keep the american people safe, to protect americans - not only americans who are here, but americans who are traveling and working, doing business in the middle east. it is the president's obligation - indeed, the state department's duty, as well - to ensure that we adopt policies that further america's national security. so as the president said today, the united states will continue to have a relationship with the kingdom of saudi arabia. they are an important partner of ours. we will do that with the kingdom of saudi arabia, its people. that is the commitment that the president made today. it's that straightforward. by the way, this is a long, historic commitment, and one that is absolutely vital to america's national security. we are determined to ensure that we continue to make sure that we take care of the american people in all of the strategic decisions we make about with whom we work around the world. >> michele with npr. >> so one qu

no not yet as a middle east specialist in the west or public supporter of the palestinian calls. this day a place where i'm sitting right now used to be edward's aides office his secretary used to sit in one of the rooms you know down this down this hall and the room that you see here almost everything is as it was where when he was here you know the the book of this book this glass bookcase this desk was edward said that chair was edwards and this was theirs or an office with a lot of history. saeed's endeavor might have remained purely literary and his connection with the arab world simply a family one had it not been for events in the middle east in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven. between the fifth and the tenth of june israel fault and defeated the combined on of egypt syria and jordan. the nine hundred sixty seven war changed the month of the middle east and still hampers the peace process today but it also had a profound effect and signed. the year nine hundred sixty seven was a devastating year for me and everything i had grown up with i was in america by that time

east as david mentioned but not a mentally about the middle east. so, you got presents on one hand which has been no major shifts but trending downward despite the perception and now the us is there and ready to go. on procurement, despite all the talk of big weapon sales to gulf countries we not see much of that in this ministration and most of it is taking credit for things that happen before and the prospect of large weapon sales in the future is really hard to see in particular even harder after the events of the election here where i think the congress comes back and there will be a lot of discussion about what to do about the pending arms sales and i don't see a big political appetite here in washington to push very hard on that. that was a big component of the obama administration strategy to build military pressure. when you have some of the biggest arms sales to saudi arabia that was a lot about putting pressure in building the capacity to deal with and iranian threat. partners. so, i give the ministration credit for trying to continue the

it will pay for itself and transform the middle east. is not surprising much people did not pay attention. a lot of what explains this is the logrolling of interest to think of the broad foreign policy community root using power to promote human rights some want to use power and these are all were the objectives. some want to continue to defend nato that is most sacred alliance in our history. some people want us to support taiwan against china some want to back different countries in the middle east. if everybody gets a little bit of what they want, the united states ends up very busy and every corner of the planet. it is hard to resist that particularly in periods when we think we are on top of the world. it is wired into our political dna that set of values valid for all human beings. so the question is what about reform? is it as simple as creating a institution? a more diverse population would go a long way but that is not a simple enterprise to create one or two think tanks helps but you need more than that. because the balance of

but it was a different kind of war in the middle east. britain strategy was to capitalize on growing out of nationalist feeling against for centuries of ultimate rule. carolina and the hold up with that minute the key it became at the age come a half hour and jim yet said we have i don't have a mash. home and i am now a miniature he and i have been going to ship a stone the whole walk i don't know and you have thought about what the number one issue any of us a and and yet a sadly he if that were. in one thousand nine hundred fifteen the british high commissioner in cairo so henry mcmahon began negotiating an alliance with a sane ben-ali the shot if of mecca and the exchange of letters took place between mcmahon and hussein about the possibility of joining some sort of revolt against the ottomans the result of that was that the british promised should be for saying and his sons gold and guns and an arab state or states to be founded after the war was over and in return for that they would declare war on the ottomans. the same was also the

east and we have to remember that the middle east today is in a very dire and very unstable and dangerous circumstance ok we're going to leave that discussion lavasoft apra professor of political science at the university of toronto for us coming to the program. in the past two years the war in yemen has claimed five times more lives than previously thought that's according to new research results fifty six thousand people have been killed and there are some british m.p.'s and losing patience with that country's role in arm in a saudi coalition which had the military incursion into a parliamentary committee this week grilled britain's top middle east a diplomat overly actions with riyadh. do you have a problem with condemning murder and international violations of into international law in complete mistakes and made the only thing that we don't do is actually press the button to drop the bomb i'm surprised that for those who need to defend themselves the amount of rage trouble between civilians is going up north to if these are all there is they seem to be able to float it i do not agree

still causes problems in somalia there are going to be people roaming around the middle east screaming that there are members of isis because it's what one does who are probably entry trouble but it's not it i don't think is even a major problem there overall and certainly far far worse than it was earlier when they control these and when they're able to actually do these massacres that you talked about i'm going to disagree with that a couple of them have to get out so the reason i disagree is a lot of the foreign fighters that have left iraq and syria have gone to places like libya they've gone to southeast asia they've gone to pakistan and afghanistan and so the idea that these are not actual threats to the governments i disagree having spent time in pakistan having traveled through these areas talking to people who are former members of terrorist organizations this is an actual threat to some governments but he's right not to the american government you know you used the phrase earlier of what kabul is not part of the problem that if you've got this organization that can just pop u

yes so instability in the war in the middle east is good for washington in the short term because i mean they sell billions of dollars of weapons to disability so the saudis being involved in war is actually good for business and i think that's something to donald trump made very clear in his recent statement essentially saying that this is part of the america first policy where you know the saudis can get away with what they're doing because they're bringing jobs and money to the united states well i would say i'm sorry i wouldn't really had a really i would really contest that ok the deals that he's talking about are in the pipeline they're not even really fine i mean the bombs on the planes they all came from the bush obama era trumpets had no in zero impact on arms sales to saudi arabia. at this point i'll give you the last word interim go ahead yes i would totally agree with that the trump is is an expert in exaggerating numbers but i would say that even if those numbers were true in the long run this kind of policy of supporting an aggressive dictator like m.b.'s is going to be bad

east and try to shape events in the middle east but this this incident tarnished image and now they need to to do some damage repair mr ambassador thank you so much for joining us here on this news our special well to pick up on that point of the ambassador was mentioning the reaction the response from the from the administration has shifted and shifted dramatically over the past month or so you'll remember at one point donald trump the u.s. president basically said something to paraphrase the u.s. leader he said innocent until proven guilty fast forward from that point by two or three days and he said well the crown prince runs things over there if anyone was involved it was possibly mohammed bin so mom you remember as well he does have a very good relationship with the crown prince his critics donald trump's critics are saying the same thing he's basically done and he's trying to hang on to a cost benefit analysis on the one hand you've got one journalist versus more than one hundred billion dollars worth of sales is rosalyn jordan. six days after the journalist and us resident ja

yes the instability in the war in the middle east is good for washington in the short term because i mean they sell billions of dollars of weapons to disability so the saudis being involved in war is actually good for business and i think that's something to donald trump made very clear in his recent statement essentially saying that this is part of the america first policy where you know the saudis can get away with what they're doing because they're bringing jobs and money to the united states well i would say i'm sorry i would really had really i would really contest that ok the deals that he's talking about are in the pipeline they're not even really find i mean the bombs on the planes they all came from the bush obama era tom pitts had no input zero impact on arms sale. as to saudi arabia at this point i'll give you the last word into iran go ahead yes i would totally agree with that the trump is is an expert in exaggerating numbers but i would say that even if those numbers were true in the long run this kind of policy of supporting an aggressive dictator like m.b.'s is going t

indeed brazil sells at least five billion dollars of beef to egypt to the middle east and gulf nations produces fear they could retaliate if the move goes ahead. well sonata has added fuel to the fire by saying palestine isn't a country and therefore shouldn't have an embassy here breaking with longstanding support for a two state solution to the palestinian israeli conflict but. brazil has always behaved as an intermediate or a not a participant in the conflict we hope it remains that way for brazil sick for its long standing prestigious as a nation that respects international law. also noddle has been nicknamed the tropical donald trump is shifting from multilateralism to a strong alignment with washington this is brazil's foreign ministry its new boss will be a mid-level diplomats with no experience as embassador but whose main characteristic is his staunch support for the us president and like and president trump the new foreign minister questions the existence of climate change which he in fact describes as marxist dogma. also not only not be going as far as donald trump who has w

>> you're watching "best of bloomberg daybreak: middle east." president trump promises a full report on the jamal khashoggi killing. global market misery deepens. equities falling and oil falling to lows it hasn't seen in a year. is the party over for dubai? yousef: we begin the week with president trump saying the u.s. was preparing to issue what he called a very full report. that was after the media reported that the c.i.a. reported that the saudi crown prince ordered the assassination of the clom history in. -- of the columnist. claims trump denies. >> the saudis have again reiterated that deny that the crown prince was in any way involved in this. they are still blaming this on rogue elements. people that they are putting on trial. they have said they are seeking the death penalty for five of the people they are charging with this. at the same time, of course, i mean, this is the "washington post" story. they broke the news. they are saying this is a c.i.a. assessment on the basis that the crown prince is really in charge of day-to-day runni

east the wars of the middle east and the consequences of war are the twenty plus million internally displaced. syrian iraqis yemenis libyans and all those plus the refugees are coming out of syria and iraq and other places the situation in the middle east is not really looking up when it comes to wars and destruction. and there is a lot of work to be done in the humanitarian front leave alone when we talk about the return of syrian refugees for example internally displaced persons again we're looking at fifteen million people that should go back to their homes this will be the biggest return since world war two also and it requires a lot of work on the legal side of things of the security side of seeing on a stabilization or recovery on reintegration stabilization throughout the country shelter home probert the land and physical security for people to go back that's what i do it's been just over three years now since we saw that huge migration of people to europe from places like syria and iraq and other countries in the region that really hit the headlines globally how would you as

still causes problems in somalia and there may be people roaming around the middle east screaming that there are members of isis because it's what one does who are probably in create trouble but it's not it i don't think is even a major problem there overall. certainly far far worse than it was earlier when they control these and when they're able to actually do these massacres that you talked about i'm going to disagree with that a couple of them to go to so the reason i disagree is a lot of the foreign fighters that have left iraq and syria have gone to places like libya they've gone to southeast asia they've gone to pakistan and afghanistan and so the idea that these are not actual threats to the governments i disagree having spent time in pakistan having traveled through these areas talking to people who are former members of terrorist organizations this is an actual threat to some governments but he's right not to the american government you know you used the phrase earlier of what kabul is not part of the problem that if you've got this organization that can just pop up because i

east peace process you mustn't ask about the middle east peace process the quiet effort continues to look at how we can work better together to main stability in the middle east due to the affair that is not being dealt with as an active effort more publicly right now as we try to sort out the effect of. all of these efforts are really trying to get to a degree of stability deal with the humanitarian crisis that definitely definitely exists as you know i wonder about the quality of the transcript some of that but there is a sense that he suggested that maybe behind the scenes something is going on there in order to preserve stability in the middle east. ok so i mean interesting to see what he had to say and obviously the whole issue remains very divisive in the united states we've also been hearing from the editor of the washington post which worked for what they had he say well we had a very strong statement in the washington post. the day before which deplore donald trump statements on your show the editor of the washington post has been expanding all that in an interview i was ast

the duck to get out of the middle east. this was a huge mistake and it trillion dollars sinkhole but a lot of rhetoric that sounds like dick cheney and what can reconcile these two perspectives is a big challenge. courtney you were just in syria in the last few weeks so you saw this up close but from where i sit i see the u.s. military and the pentagon that is willing to stay in syria and wants to stay in syria. they are also not willing or very enthusiastic about taking on the challenges the pentagon pushing back on iran. they want to stay and they want to maintain a precedence that there very concerned about escalation. the kinds of policies that many of our partners in the region and the israelis and the gulf partners were thinking they would he seen coming out of the united states a year ago a more aggressive effort to push back militarily on the ground. >> looking and what iran wants in syria one of the big questions is does iran want weapon neisseria in other words have missiles that can be fired under iranian control

, and on the middle east. i was a little both concern and believed by your remarks. because up until today and your speech, the murder of jamal khashoggi has not been mentioned. in addition to the long-standing ties between saudi arabia and the united states, , the gulf ad the united states, a common concern about human rights, provides that are violent by the iranian regime and other regimes in the area. also figures as a common concern for our alliance. i wondered what if, it's very clear to me that what has been said so far by the kingdom of saudi arabia, by the government of saudi arabia, has not alleviated concerns about the fate of jamal khashoggi, about what happened to him and who gave the orders. and most important as the "washington post" pointed out today, where his body is so that it can be returned to his relatives and family. would you call for an international neutral investigation of this matter beyond investigation which is already been proposed which does not seem to alleviate the concerns of

is almost like the fort sumter on the middle east side of things to come in the middle east. i hope that his killing is not, has an upcoming vein and will not be forgotten before this affair is investigated i do believe that the international investigation is probably the best thing that will happen. i mean, this killing obviously comes when saudi arabia is undergoing a lot of change and most importantly, a lot of change domestically. this is a society where the bargain, the rolling bargain between the ruler and the ruled is dependent on the provision of services and largess in exchange or loyalty. sometimes we wonder if this loyalty is going to be always forthcoming. as the social contract of saudi arabia, we know it is under tremendous pressure, but will the social contract survive further more repression and more intimidation of any opposition, however mild it is. so as far as i'm concerned, this is, yes, it is a very sad incident. it's a sad affair and yet the same time it's also the political scientist in me tells me that this probably can be looked at in a in the form o

policy on the middle east. prominent palestinians came under attack from both sides from the far right jewish defense league of the j d l and from other muslims as mel photokina of temple university in philadelphia and his wife were stabbed to death at their home by a black muslim. edward saeed himself was attacked his office at columbia was torched and a right wing jewish magazine dubbed him the professor of terror a label that followed him for the rest of his life. for this eleven year old girl football is a passion. and a ticket out of poverty. now she has a once in a lifetime opportunity to raise the stakes a little higher. in her long journey to success. championship dreams part of the viewfinder asia's series. on al-jazeera. the latest news as if breaks an army of volunteers has come together to help with the influx of tens of thousands of evacuees with detailed coverage but now president of the says there's not much that can be done the south china sea is now we find a session. from around the world chal

that would create a giant's own of peace in the middle east. it would take the terrorism problem and the proliferation problem of the table. it's a liberal solution to some very nasty problems. the good realist like me, mainly concerned about the balance of power. and you start talking about invading countries like a rock, i say to myself, you really asking for big trouble. this is like going to be a non, with soviets going to afghanistan. i saw argue during the cold war, soviets went into afghanistan in 1979, virtually everybody in the national security establishment was gassed. this is the end of the world. i said, this is dead wrong. the soviets jumped into a giant fire patch. actually want to invite them to invade afghanistan. just like they should -- we went into vietnam. heist to tell the chinese when i first started going to china in early 2000, you should be thankful that the americans have invaded afghanistan and iraq. you should tell them they shouldn't stay in iraq and afghanistan until they win. wrecking their economy, running their

so it's a mean, nasty world out there, the middle east in particular. there are important american interests, to keep the american people safe, to protect americans -- not only americans who are here, but americans who are traveling and working, doing business in the middle east. it is the president's obligation -- indeed, the state department's duty as well - to ensure that we adopt policies that further america's national security. so as the president said today, the united states will continue to have a relationship with the kingdom of saudi arabia. they are an important partner of ours. we will do that with the kingdom of saudi arabia, its people. that is the commitment that the president made today. it's that straightforward. by the way, this is a long, historic commitment, and one that is absolutely vital to america's national security. we are determined to ensure that we continue to make sure that we take care of the american people in all of the strategic decisions we make about with whom we work around the world. >> michele with npr. >> so one

the middle east in particular. there are important american interests to keep the american people safe, to protect americans, not only those who are here, but those were traveling and working, doing business in the middle east. it is the president's obligation and the state department's giddy duty to ensure policies that do that. the united states will continue to have a relationship with saudi arabia. we will do that with the kingdom, its people. that is the commitments the president made to do. -- today. it is that straightforward. it is a commitment that is absolutely vital to america's national security. we continue to make sure that we take care of the american people in all the decisions we make about whom we work around world. >> [indiscernible] the america first agenda, does it mean putting u.s. this interests ahead of human rights concerns? on iran, have you considered any specific sanctions to pressure iran to release the american citizens held there? secretary pompeo: we are engaged every day in working

didn't zip its lip about events in the middle east such as egypt. but even more dire by then as a result of the berlin block aide american bomber bases in churchill threatened to have those removed. most of all there the british and the americans was the defense of malaya here. malaya astoundingly exported the dollar value in tin and rubber that it was one-seventh of all u.s. exports. and it was vital to the british hopes of recovery, and thereby europe's hopes of recovery, and the fear was that the communists would descend from battling the french in indochina, to take over malaya and then move against india. the british were adamant that the first line of malaya's defendant f defense was in vietnam. the origins of the vietnam war embers of war is recent author has called them are utterly misunderstood. without discussing the american entanglement in vietnam, and not including the british, endless british pressure for a straight decade, it would be equivalent say to who knows, discussing the american rev lose without discussing the british. the bri