With Eric on vacation, Eliot welcomes Kenneth Pollack, VP for Policy at the Middle East Institute, to the show. Ken outlines MEI's mission before providing analysis on the current state of the Iran war. They discuss the difficulty of ending a conflict when both sides believe they are winning, and whether we are on the cusp of significant concessions or escalation. They explore whether the war was a good idea badly executed or a bad idea badly executed. The pair also speculate about what a successfully prosecuted war effort would have looked like before turning to the likely trajectory of the Iranian regime in the future. Ken explains the broader implications of the war for the Gulf States, Israel, China, Russia, and Turkey before closing with a conversation about why the United States cares about the region and why it presents such an enduring challenge.

Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.