Charlotte Leslie, Director of CMEC, introduces the 2nd of a series of 4 debates at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.

The Rt Hon Alistair Burt, the highly-respected two-time Minister of State for the Middle East, chairs the debate with two eminent guests - Con Coughlin, the Defence Editor of The Telegraph, and Shayan Talabany, an analyst at the Tony Blair Institute.

The panel discuss the tragedy of Syria and the long-running conflict that has caused a humanitarian and security disaster in the Middle East - Isis, the Captagon drug smuggling crisis and a refugee catastrophe. Bashar al-Assad presides over the disaster with support of Russia and Iran. What can, and should, the West do?