On April 10, 2024, the Global and National Security Institute (GNSI) at the University of South Florida (USF) hosted its second GNSI Policy Dialogues, entitled "The Iran Enigma: Navigating Strategy and Security." The Policy Dialogues series focuses on specific issues affecting national security, bringing together some of the best and brightest strategic thinkers, leaders, and subject matter experts from around the globe. The over-arching goal of these Policy Dialogues events is to provide policymakers and thought leaders with a broader understanding of the various challenges facing the United States.
GNSI’s Policy Dialogues conference on Iran explored the complexities of Iran's regional policies, dissected the evolution of social movements, with a spotlight on the status of women, and delved into the nation's relations with the United States.
You can watch all of the conference videos at the GNSI Policy Dialogues: The Iran Enigma Playlist on our YouTube Channel.
Direct links to specific videos are noted below.
Morning Session
The conference host, David Oakley, PhD, Academic Director at the Global and National Security Institute, and Dr. Mohsen Milani, PhD, Executive Director of the Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies, at the University
of South Florida, welcomed a large audience to the Patel Center for Global Solutions
Auditorium. Watch their remarks.
Following their welcome, Dr. Prasant Mohapatra, Provost, Vice President, and Chief Academic Officer of USF, provided the day's opening remarks. Watch Mohapatra’s full remarks here.
Taking the stage after Mohapatra, General (Ret) Frank McKenzie, Executive Director of GNSI and former Commander of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM)
started the day's discussion with a broad overview of the region’s tumultuous history
and the priorities of Iran’s current theocratic regime. “The bottom line is this:
Iran's going to weather the storm and we need to find a way to integrate Iran into
the region in a way that serves our purposes as well as theirs.” Watch McKenzie’s full remarks here. 
Following General Mckenzie’s remarks, Mohsen Milani, PhD led a revealing Fireside Chat with Vali Nasr, PhD, the Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle East Studies and International Affairs at
Johns Hopkins University. The two discussed the historical context of the current
situation in the Middle East, what has changed since October 7th, and how the events
after are shaping the region. They also spoke about the possible succession of leadership
for the country and the overall stability of the Islamic Republic in Iran today. Nasr
speculated over different ways the current, ongoing conflict could unfold, “On October
7th, Allah really put Iran and Israel on an inevitable path to war in the next four
or five years, particularly if the Israelis believe Hamas would not have had the intelligence
on operational capabilities without Iran's help.” 
Watch the full Fireside Chat between Milani and Nasr here.
The morning session concluded with the day's first discussion panel, with Panel 1: Beyond Tehran: Understanding Iran's Role in the Middle East.
The panel featured:
Arman Mahmoudian, PhD, (Moderator) Adjunct Faculty of USF Judy Genshaft College of Honors at USF
Sanam Vakil, PhD, Director, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House
Major General Sean Salene, Director for Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5), U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM)
Alex Vatanka, Director of Iran Program and Senior Fellow, Black Sea Program at the Middle East
Institute
Watch the complete panel here.
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Afternoon Session
The afternoon kicked off with Panel 2: Navigating Tensions: U.S. and Iran Relations in the Nuclear Age.
The panel featured:
Sina Azodi, PhD (Moderator) Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University’s Elliott
School of International Affairs
Barbara Slavin, Journalist and Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center
Dario Teicher, Arms Control and Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Programs Manager, U.S. Central
Command
Kelsey Davenport, Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association
Watch the complete panel here.
The day concluded with a third panel exploring A Society in Flux: Exploring Iran's Social Movements and Women's Rights.
The panel featured:
Raheleh Dayerizadeh, PhD, (Moderator) Assistant Director for the Education Abroad Office and Adjunct Faculty at USF
Commander Nicole Cale, Iran Strategist, J51, U.S. Special Operations Command
Emily Blout, PhD, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Reichman
University
Negar Mortazavi, Journalist, Senior Fellow: Center for International Policy
Watch the complete panel here.
save the dates:
May 15, 2024
GNSI Policy Dialogues - Endangered Freedoms: Transnational Repression in North America
September 24-25, 2024
GNSI Tampa Summit 4: Middle East Collective Security
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