thank you, russell smith, and thank you for the generosity of allowing your facilities to be used for this occasion. thank you to the guests and participants who came to this session. there is, as you could infer or devine around the table from the introductions an array of expertise and diversity of specialization here borne of no end of empirical education on the ground in this part of arabia and the gulf. it is hardly a region that is synonymous with marginalia. this is one of the few places, indeed, it is the only place on the planet that the united states have mobilize and deployed more troops and expended more treasure and encountered more casualties and three times in the last three decades than any other place on earth. and the significance is from that perspective alone and eight countries, seven of them are arab, one is persian, iran, and the vast majority of the energy, production, and exports come from the seven and not the one. this particular region is also one of the least well known amongst americans of the nearly 20 centers for middle east studies in the united states