WASHINGTON, D.C. — June 25, 2026 — The Middle East Forum is pleased to announce the release of Gregg Roman’s The Closing Window, a literary espionage thriller that explores the cost of war, the machinery of power, and the human lives trapped inside political decisions made far from the battlefield.
A 39-day war between the United States and Iran ends the way modern wars often do: not in surrender, but in a memorandum. The guns go silent, the money is promised, and the world exhales. But buried within the language of peace are 19 words that quietly abandon the people who believed the bombing meant deliverance.
A 39-day war between the United States and Iran ends the way modern wars often do: not in surrender, but in a memorandum.
As a 60-day clock begins counting down to the vote that will make the ceasefire permanent, a small Washington policy institute crosses the line from analysis into action, turning its tools against its own government’s settlement. Inside Iran, an air-defense colonel, a labor organizer, and a nurse each face impossible choices as the consequences of diplomacy, intelligence, and resistance close in around them. Their lives converge around a question no government can answer for them: What is owed to the people you cannot save?
Part political thriller and part moral reckoning, The Closing Window examines what happens when strategy leaves the conference room and lands on the shoulders of ordinary people. Roman’s debut novel combines espionage, statecraft, and political consequences with a deeply human look at what power demands from those living on the far side of policy. It is a novel about responsibility, intervention, and the narrowing distance between describing catastrophe and becoming part of it, reminding readers that the cold analysis of politicians, generals, and academics directly affects the lives of innocents thousands of miles away.
Gregg Roman is a Middle East policy and security analyst who has spent more than a decade at the center of American debates over Iran, counterterrorism, and the politics of the region. He serves as executive director of the Middle East Forum, has testified before Congress, and writes and comments widely on national security and foreign policy. He divides his time between the United States and Israel. The Closing Window is his first novel.
The Closing Window is available for purchase on major retailers including:
Buy from: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Kobo
Book Information:
The Closing Window by Gregg Roman.
Publisher: Middle East Forum Press
Published: July 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798996755806
Genre: Espionage Thriller
About the Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is a Philadelphia-based applied policy research organization that promotes U.S. interests in the Middle East and protects Western civilization from Islamist threats. Founded in 1994, MEF pairs rigorous analysis with direct-action programs to advance U.S. leadership, support America’s allies, and defend religious liberty worldwide.
For more information, visit www.meforum.org
For immediate release
For more information, contact:
Gregg Roman
Roman@MEForum.org
+1 (215) 546 5406
@GreggRoman - Twitter
