Israel and a Changed Middle East

“We have a region with a critical shortage of leaders. Leaders who are masters of their politics, not prisoners of their ideologies. Leaders who are not extractive leaders, leaders who actually care about the prosperity and security of their citizens. Where are they? … You need a [Yitzhak] Rabin and King Hussein [bin Talal], even Rabin and Yasser Arafat in his first incarnation, and they don’t exist. And I do not see how you can do anything more than what I call transactional diplomacy. The transformational diplomacy requires a different kind of leader, and I don’t see them, but I believe they’re necessary.”

—Aaron David Miller, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

About the Episode

The Middle East has undergone major shifts over the past 18 months, not least the recent war between Israel and Iran. A conversation with former diplomats Daniel C. Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller this past May highlights the political dynamics shaping the future of power in the region, Israel’s war in Gaza, and the evolving U.S.-Israel relationship.

This conversation was recorded at a Baker Institute event on May 15, 2025. 

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Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available here. This transcript was AI-generated and has not been through editorial review.

About ‘Baker Briefing’

Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

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This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.