This is the first in our series of three podcasts on the Middle East with Reva Bhalla, Director of Analysis at STRATFOR, a global intelligence company.

This series focuses on all of the dynamics that are playing out in the Middle East — the balance of power between the Arabs and the Israelis, between Shi’a led Iran and Sunni led Saudi Arabia, and the balance of power between the region and the United States, and our ability to influence what happens in the Middle East — and the ramifications for the U.S., depending on what happens there.