Trying to understand the Middle East topic of latest ARNSF

The CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center hosted an Arter-Rowland National Security Forum luncheon event on Feb. 15, 2024, at the Carriage Club in Kansas City. The event featured a presentation entitled “Crisis in the Middle East: Understanding America’s Hotel California.

Simons Center Director Bob Ulin welcomed the ARNSF members and welcomed guests. After lunch, he introduced the guest speaker Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian L. Steed, Ph.D. Steed focused his presentation on the Middle East with a metaphor about the song “Hotel California” by the Eagles, a popular rock band. Steed’s main point was that whether the situation in the Middle East is quiet or loud, we can “checkout but we can never leave,” as the song’s lyrics state, and that the region always demands our informed attention.

(Top photo and above) Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian L. Steed, Ph.D., associate professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, provides a presentation on the Middle East during the Arter-Rowland National Security Forum luncheon event on Feb. 15, 2024, at the Carriage Club in Kansas City.

In describing the situation Steed painted the picture of the Middle East in 2023 which saw the capture of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan after decades of conflict with Armenia, the U.S. Air Force shoot down of a Turkish drone sent to attack Kurdish forces in Syria making it the first ever NATO on NATO military engagement, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel on the brink of an historic accord, and the Hamas attack on Israel killing more than a thousand civilians that led to the Israeli response of flattening Gaza City and killing thousands and maybe tens of thousands of Palestinians. Steed then embarked on a short history lesson covering hundreds of years, trying, and succeeding for the most part, to support one of his main points that both sides in every conflict can be both right and wrong. He discussed the various interpretations of Islam, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Ansar Allah and the Houthi Movement, providing the Forum with a bit of understanding of their perspectives.

As one attendee said, “there isn’t a chance I’ll remember all of this, other than to appreciate the nuances and be reminded how ignorant our news media and most of us are about any of it.”

After the presentation and a question and answer period, Ulin presented Steed with a new CGSC/Simons Center coffee mug and coin in appreciation for his time with the Forum. Ulin closed out the luncheon with a short brief about the schedule for future gatherings of the Forum.

For more photos see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album

Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Brian L. Steed served more than 28 years in a military uniform in artillery and cavalry units and as a Middle East foreign area officer. As a foreign area officer, he served in the Jordanian Armed Forces where he was a battalion deputy commander and as a liaison with the Israel Defense Forces giving him immersed cultural experiences on both banks of the Jordan River. He served repeatedly in Iraq, worked in Embassy Abu Dhabi, and traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Steed has authored and edited nine books dealing with cross-cultural influence and Middle East conflict and history. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science and History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is an associate professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The Arter-Rowland National Security Forum (ARNSF) is led by the CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center and is an exclusive professional information sharing and networking forum for those interested in keeping abreast of relevant information about national security issues.

Members of the Forum and their guests meet periodically at guest speaker events in downtown Kansas City. National and regional guest speakers representing all elements of national power (Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic) highlight the meetings. The Forum is nonpartisan, but elected government officials may present from time to time.

The Forum is named after Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Arter, Founding Chairman of the CGSC Foundation, and Mr. Landon Rowland, the Foundation’s first major donor who was well-known in Kansas City for his keen interest in national security issues and his leadership in business and philanthropy.

ARNSF events are only open to ARNSF members and their guests. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, contact Bob Ulin at rulin@cgscf.org or visit the Forum page on the Simons Center website for more information.

The Arter-Rowland National Security Forum is an exclusive professional information sharing
and networking forum exclusively for select invitees of the CGSC Foundation and its Simons Center.