Internationally acclaimed journalist and former member of the Brookings Task Force on US Relations with the Islamic World, Mr. Rami Khouri will analyze the complexities in Syria due to the convergence of three conflicts: the domestic battle for power between several government oppositions groups; the regional cold war spearheaded by Iran and Saudi Arabia; and the revived global struggle for influence in the region between the USA, Russia and China. Syria has become the main proxy battleground for these three conflicts. Events unfolding there also help shed light on the nature of the other citizen uprisings around the region, as they enter the middle of their second year in June.