{"id":170105,"date":"2026-10-19T15:37:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=170105"},"modified":"2026-10-19T15:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:37:27","slug":"international-affairs-forum-iran-middle-east-instability-national-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=170105","title":{"rendered":"International Affairs Forum: Iran, Middle East Instability &#038; National Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-renderer-start-pos=\"710\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tciaf.com\/event-october-22-2026\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-170106 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IAF-Student-Events-Calendar-640-x-680-Oct-2026-282x300.png\" alt=\"NMC IAF event Iran, Middle East Instability &amp; National Security graphic\" width=\"282\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IAF-Student-Events-Calendar-640-x-680-Oct-2026-282x300.png 282w, https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IAF-Student-Events-Calendar-640-x-680-Oct-2026.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 282px) 100vw, 282px\" \/><\/a>Middle East instability directly shapes American foreign policy, economic stability, and domestic security. As Washington attempts to pivot focus toward Great Power competition with China and Russia, recurring regional crises continue pulling military, intelligence, and diplomatic assets back into the region. Recent developments\u2014such as the August 2026 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan\u2014signal a profound shift toward regional self-reliance and collective deterrence. This evolving security architecture reshapes long-standing U.S. alliances, influences global energy corridors, and complicates Washington&#8217;s efforts to counter Iran&#8217;s proxy networks, drone proliferation, and gray-zone cyber tactics.<\/p>\n<p data-renderer-start-pos=\"710\">Join the International Affairs Forum for an insider perspective with national security expert Javed Ali, former Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council and former intelligence analyst with the FBI and DIA. Drawing on his experience from field operations to the White House Situation Room, Ali will analyze how shifting Middle East power dynamics, proxy warfare, and new regional pacts disrupt global strategy and impact U.S. national security at home and abroad.<\/p>\n<p data-prosemirror-content-type=\"node\" data-prosemirror-node-name=\"paragraph\" data-prosemirror-node-block=\"true\"><strong>When: <\/strong>Thursday, October 22, 6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. program in-person and livestream<\/p>\n<p data-prosemirror-content-type=\"node\" data-prosemirror-node-name=\"paragraph\" data-prosemirror-node-block=\"true\"><strong>Where: <\/strong>Milliken Auditorium, Dennos Museum Center<\/p>\n<p data-prosemirror-content-type=\"node\" data-prosemirror-node-name=\"paragraph\" data-prosemirror-node-block=\"true\"><strong>Tickets: <\/strong>Free for students, educators, NMC faculty and staff. Open to the public. <span class=\"inlineCardView-content-wrap inlineNodeView\" data-prosemirror-content-type=\"node\" data-prosemirror-node-name=\"inlineCard\" data-prosemirror-node-inline=\"true\"><span class=\"card\" aria-busy=\"true\">Get your tickets at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tciaf.com\/event-october-22-2026\">tciaf.com<\/a>. <\/span><\/span>Advance purchase of in-person or online tickets recommended.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Middle East instability directly shapes American foreign policy, economic stability, and domestic security. As Washington attempts to pivot focus toward Great Power competition with China and Russia, recurring regional crises continue pulling military, intelligence, and diplomatic assets back into the region. Recent developments\u2014such as the August 2026 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,3617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intercom","category-student-events"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>International Affairs Forum: Iran, Middle East Instability &amp; National Security - NMC Communiqu\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=170105\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"International Affairs Forum: Iran, Middle East Instability &amp; National Security - NMC Communiqu\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Middle East instability directly shapes American foreign policy, economic stability, and domestic security. 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