As the entire world is focused on the humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the brutal war that Vladimir Putin has inflicted on Ukraine, we at EMET have not taken our eyes off the ball of the enormous concessions that the Biden administration has offered to another enemy of the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran just to say, “We have a deal!”

What is behind this impulse to empower one enemy, Iran, as we are at war with another, with whom Iran colludes? Why, when the administration is trying to embargo Russian oil, and has warned China against dealing with them, has the administration, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lerov, given Russia “written guarantees “ that they can deal with Iran?

Why have we let Russia’s emissary, Mikhail Ulyanov, be our emissary in the negotiations in Vienna, only for him to later brag about the degree of concessions that he and his Chinese colleagues were able to extract from America?

Here to answer these questions and more was our esteemed friend and colleague, David Wurmser.

Immediately following the 9/11 attacks, Dr. Wurmser consulted until January 2002 for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the U.S. Department of Defense on a war‐related classified project on understanding the nature and strategic significance of terrorist group networks and their interactions with states.

Before entering government, Dr. Wurmser founded the Middle East studies program at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in 1996. While at AEI Dr. Wurmser, published Tyranny’s Ally: America’s Failure to Defeat Saddam Hussein.

Dr. Wurmser’s military service includes 11 years of intelligence experience in the U.S. Navy Reserves, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander. LCDR Wurmser was mobilized during the Operational Vigilant Warrior following Iraq’s surge toward Kuwait in 1994 to serve on the Iraq Intelligence Task for the DIA. He is the recipient of the prestigious Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Dr. Wurmser holds a B.A. (political science), M.A. (international affairs and international economics) and a Ph.D. (on U.S. foreign policy and Middle East affairs) from the Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his book, he has published extensively in in major periodicals including: The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Commentary.