Hosted by Bilal Y. Saab, the Defense Leaders Forum (DLF) is a virtual platform for senior-level military and defense leaders from both the United States and the Middle East to engage on pressing and strategic policy matters facing the two sides.
November 28, 2023
Interview with Schuyler Moore, chief technology officer at CENTCOM, on the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) in US defense policy and security cooperation efforts in the Middle East.
February 1, 2023
Interview with Celeste Gventer, President of the Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU), on the future of US security cooperation and DSCU’s roles and responsibilities.
September 26, 2022
Interview with former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie (ret.) on US policy toward the region and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
April 12, 2022
Interview with Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret, on US Middle East policy under the Biden administration.
February 22, 2022
Interview with Saudi defense specialist and aerospace engineer Saeid A. Alzahrani on unmanned aerial systems, the missile war in Yemen, and Saudi Arabia’s evolving missile defense capabilities.
October 6, 2021
Interview with Mara Karlin, US Assistant Secretery of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities and acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, on the Biden administration’s approach to national security and regional security affairs in the Middle East.
September 16, 2021
Interview with Brookings Institution President John Allen, a retired US Marine Corps four-star General and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and US Forces in Afghanistan, on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Biden administration’s Middle East policy.
July 15, 2021
Interview with former Commander of US Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) US Army Lieutenant General (Ret.) Michael K. Nagata on the future of US counterterrorism strategy in the Middle East.
March 25, 2021
Interview with Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass on US President Joe Biden’s Middle East policy.
March 12, 2021
Interview with former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Simone Ledeen on US policies toward the Middle East during the Trump administration and lessons learned.
November 30, 2020
Interview with British Major General Kevin Copsey, the Deputy Commander of Strategy for the Combined Joint Task Force for Operation Inherent Resolve (CJT-OIR), on the role CJT-OIR has played in countering ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the future of this strategic effort.
October 28, 2020
Interview with Derek Chollet, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, on lessons learned in US foreign policy toward the Middle East and the future of America’s role in the region.
October 15, 2020
Interview with Heidi H. Grant, Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), on the role and responsibilities of DSCA in US arms sales to the Middle East and how the organization’s mission has evolved in a strategic and US policy environment of great power competition.
September 8, 2020
Interview with retired Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Rear Admiral Joseph Sarkis, previously the LAF’s deputy chief of staff for planning, on the roles and responsibilities of the LAF, its military evolution and capabilities, its performance on the battlefield, and its partnership with the United States.
July 22, 2020
Interview with Vice Admiral James Malloy, Commander of US Naval Forces in US Central Command (NAVCENT), the US Fifth Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces, on present and future challenges and opportunities facing US maritime goals and plans in the region.
July 2, 2020
Interview with former US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James N. Miller on US Middle East policy during the Obama administration and future U.S. strategy for the region.
June 23, 2020
Interview with CENTCOM Deputy Director of Strategy, Plans, and Policy Brigadier General Duke Pirak on present and future challenges and opportunities facing CENTCOM’s security cooperation portfolio in the region.
June 16, 2020
Interview with former US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy on the future of US defense strategy and posture in the Middle East in an era of great power competition.