Shaping the Endgame: Iran, Regional War, and What Comes Next
Date: 05/11/2026
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Private Event? Yes
Kosher Options? Yes
Offers Hotel Code? No
Cost Is Donation? Yes
The U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran has shattered the old order in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic’s supreme leader is dead, its military infrastructure degraded, and its proxy network — from Hezbollah in Lebanon to militias in Iraq — is under sustained pressure for the first time in decades. Yet destruction is not strategy, and a ceasefire is not peace. The hardest questions still lie ahead: What replaces the regime’s shattered architecture? Who speaks for the Iranian people as the world negotiates their future? And does the United States have the doctrinal clarity to see this through to a durable outcome — or will it settle for half-measures that guarantee the next crisis?
Gregg Roman, Executive Director of the Middle East Forum, brings a rare combination of vantage points to these questions. A former Israeli defense official who has lived through this war from his home in Israel, Roman has spent the past year quietly building the coalition infrastructure for a democratic Iranian future — convening opposition leaders, mapping civil society across all 31 of Iran’s provinces, and advising policymakers on what a post-regime transition must look like. His framework — that conflicts end through decisive victory, not managed decline — has shaped MEF’s policy advocacy and is now at the center of the debate in Washington.
Joining him is Dr. Jonathan Spyer, the Forum’s Director of Research and editor of the Middle East Quarterly. A veteran conflict journalist who has reported from the front lines in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon for Janes Intelligence Review, the Jerusalem Post, and the Wall Street Journal, Spyer has been tracking the war’s cascading effects across the region in real time — from Hezbollah’s deepening miscalculations in Lebanon to the emergence of Iraq as a third front. His on-the-ground analysis of how Iran’s proxy architecture is fracturing under pressure provides the essential military and strategic complement to MEF’s policy vision.
Together, they offer an unmatched briefing on the war’s trajectory, the fight for Iran’s future, and what it will take to turn tactical success into lasting strategic victory. Join us for a candid, off-the-record lunch conversation.
📅 Monday, May 11, 2026
📍Palo Alto , CA (Exact location will be provided upon registration.)
🕕 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Gregg Roman, Executive Director of the Middle East Forum, brings a rare combination of vantage points to these questions. A former Israeli defense official who has lived through this war from his home in Israel, Roman has spent the past year quietly building the coalition infrastructure for a democratic Iranian future — convening opposition leaders, mapping civil society across all 31 of Iran’s provinces, and advising policymakers on what a post-regime transition must look like. His framework — that conflicts end through decisive victory, not managed decline — has shaped MEF’s policy advocacy and is now at the center of the debate in Washington.
Joining him is Dr. Jonathan Spyer, the Forum’s Director of Research and editor of the Middle East Quarterly. A veteran conflict journalist who has reported from the front lines in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon for Janes Intelligence Review, the Jerusalem Post, and the Wall Street Journal, Spyer has been tracking the war’s cascading effects across the region in real time — from Hezbollah’s deepening miscalculations in Lebanon to the emergence of Iraq as a third front. His on-the-ground analysis of how Iran’s proxy architecture is fracturing under pressure provides the essential military and strategic complement to MEF’s policy vision.
Together, they offer an unmatched briefing on the war’s trajectory, the fight for Iran’s future, and what it will take to turn tactical success into lasting strategic victory. Join us for a candid, off-the-record lunch conversation.
📅 Monday, May 11, 2026
📍Palo Alto , CA (Exact location will be provided upon registration.)
🕕 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Copy