policy in the middle east stay with us. hello and welcome to crossfire where all things considered i m joe biden famously said nothing will fundamentally change just appears to be the case when it comes to u.s. policy regarding the middle east we asked the question what is the strategic value of the middle east and who benefits from all these forever wars. to discuss these issues and more i m joined by my guest who s making it as he is a professor of history and director of the nucular studies institute at american university as well as co-author with oliver stone of the untold just. 3 of the united states in new york we have roy leiter he is an associate a senior research analyst at the institute for war and peace studies at columbia university and here in moscow we have maxine he is an expert at the russian international affairs council originally cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate it ok let s go to bethesda 1st pe