TIF-HELEXPO Administration Building,
Board Room
Friday, September 5, 2025
This was a closed-door, invitation-only roundtable held under Chatham House Rule.
Aimed at fostering candid, high-level dialogue, it seeks
not consensus but clarity on the strategic vectors shaping the
Middle East’s next phase.
On Friday, September 5th 2025, the Delphi Economic Forum hosted an exclusive roundtable, "After the Ashes: Reimagining the Middle East in the Age of Permanent Conflagration," held on the sidelines of the TIF-HELEXPO 2025.
This closed-door, invitation-only event brought together key thinkers and policymakers for a high-level dialogue on the region's reshaped geopolitical landscape. The discussion explored critical questions about shifting alliances, the role of global powers, and the prospects for stability and reconstruction in a post-conflict Middle East.
This discussion aimed for clarity on the strategic vectors shaping the Middle East's next phase, with a focus on what comes next and who will shape it.
Discussion Topics
- Why are conflicts so enduring? Structural causes of unresolvable wars (Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Libya).
- External vs internal factors: Role of foreign interventions, proxy warfare, sectarianism, and authoritarianism.
- Regional power dynamics: Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and their evolving roles.
- Post-American Middle East? The decline or transformation of U.S. influence and the rise of China, Russia, and regional autonomy.
- Normalization & fragmentation: The Abraham Accords, Arab-Israeli relations, and the risk of more non-state actors filling vacuums.
- Failed and fragile states: Can they be rebuilt? If so, how?
- Post-conflict reconstruction economies: Lessons from Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.
- Peacebuilding in the age of fragmentation: Can peace processes work in divided societies and multi-actor conflicts?
- Visioning exercises: What does a just, livable Middle East look like in 2030?
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