Join us for Salon de Résistance on March 26th at Black Iris for an unfiltered conversation about the war in Iran with three of America’s leading experts on foreign policy, national security, nuclear nonproliferation, and the Middle East. Free to attend, FB event post HERE.
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The war with Iran is grinding on and there’s no end in sight. What started a month ago as a series of coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes has now erupted into a full-scale regional war, one that is not only reshaping the contours of the Middle East, but has the potential to drag the world into another global conflict.
On February 28, President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury. Within 24 hours, Iran’s Supreme Leader was dead. What followed was a cascade of retaliation that’s spread across 11 countries, triggering a chain reaction of events: 13 U.S. service members killed, thousands of civilians have died or been displaced, while thousands of rockets and drones have been launched across the region. Meanwhile, the battlefield’s expanding to include commercial oil fields, ports, desalination plants, airports, hotels, embassies and consulates. And beyond the human cost, the first economic shocks of the war are only now starting to emerge as the disruption spreads through the global economy.
But as the war unfolds in real time, certain things are also becoming impossible to ignore: the goals and objectives of this war remain unclear, the global balance of power is shifting, drone warfare is changing the nature of modern conflict, and Americans are once again being asked to shoulder the burden of another potential forever war. Yet for most of us, the conversation about where this might all be headed has barely begun.
Which is why this will be an unfiltered conversation with no questions off limits. Because you deserve to hear directly from experts who can unpack what’s really going on beyond the headlines. Why did this conflict begin? Why did it escalate so quickly? Can there be any winners? What’s the human cost? And what comes next for the United States, the region, and the world?
we need to talk about it
Salon de Résistance is honored and excited to host three of America’s leading experts on foreign policy, national security, and the Middle East to help us navigate the complexity of the war with Iran. The Honorable Joyce Connery, a two-time presidential appointee who served three stints on the National Security Council; Thomas Countryman, one of America’s most experienced voices on nuclear nonproliferation and arms control and former Acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security; and Dr. Dana El Kurd, Associate Professor at the University of Richmond and Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C.
our guests:
The Honorable Joyce Connery is a two time presidential appointee who spent more than two decades working at the center of U.S. nuclear policy and national security decision-making. She most recently served as Chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the independent agency responsible for protecting public health and safety at U.S. defense nuclear facilities. She’s held multiple senior policy roles on the National Security Council, including work on nuclear security and nonproliferation and as the first Director of Nuclear Energy Policy. She also served in key leadership positions at the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, helping shape U.S. nuclear policy and oversight of the nation’s nuclear weapons infrastructure. She now owns and operates her own consulting firm, Connery Strategies and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Thomas Countryman is Chairman of the Board of the Arms Control Association and a retired senior U.S. diplomat with more than 35 years in the U.S. Foreign Service. He served as Acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation, leading U.S. efforts to stop the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Over the course of his career he advised on Middle East diplomacy at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, served on the National Security Council, and held senior diplomatic posts in Belgrade, Rome, Athens, Cairo, and Washington. He also served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, bringing diplomatic expertise directly into U.S. military planning.
Dr. Dana El Kurd is an Associate Professor at the University of Richmond and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Arab Center Washington (and a Salon de Résistance alumni). She is an expert in international relations, Palestinian politics, and authoritarianism, with a focus on how these forces intersect with public opinion and international intervention. Her first book, Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine, examines how international involvement can create a divide between elites and the public, insulating political leadership from accountability and strengthening authoritarian control. Dr. El Kurd’s research has been widely published in academic journals and featured in The Nation, Financial Times, The New York Times, Jewish Currents, and she is frequently quoted by Vox, BBC, Voice of America, and Foreign Policy on Middle Eastern politics.
Your Host
Landon Shroder, is the co-publisher and editor-at-large of RVA Magazine; he is also a foreign policy professional, Democratic strategist, journalist, and filmmaker whose career has spanned more than twenty years across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe in the energy, defense, and security sectors. A former producer and journalist for VICE, he has also written extensively on conflict, culture, and politics for outlets including Fair Observer, War on the Rocks, World Policy Journal, Chatham House, and of course, RVA Magazine.
THE SALON
Salon de Résistance unfolds in three movements: a convergence to begin, a conversation to spark, and a reflection to carry the ideas forward.
6:00pm: Convergence
Drinks and shared conversation, set to vinyl flips.
7:00–8:30pm: Conversation
A live interview then opening into questions and exchange with the room.
8:30pm: Reflection
Space to connect with our guests, develop perspectives, and imagine what comes next.
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