AGSIW Board Member F. Gregory Gause, III participated in an Intelligence Squared debate with Madawi Al-Rasheed, Mark P. Lagon, and James Jeffrey, focusing on the question of whether the United States should maintain its special relationship with Saudi Arabia. During the debate, Gause commented, “If we ran our Middle East policy based only on dealing with people who shared our values, we really wouldn’t have many people to talk to in the Middle East. The Middle East is a very strategic area. It’s in flames right now. And having a relationship with a stable country in the Middle East that has influence in Syria, in Yemen, in other parts — in Iraq, in other parts of the Middle East that are in flames we think is actually very useful to the United States.”