At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22, Kol Rinah will host Middle East expert Steven Simon for a discussion about the future of the U.S.- Israel alliance. 

Simon, a visiting professor of history at Amherst College, will discuss prospects for the future of the U.S.- Israel alliance beginning with Israel’s founding in 1948 and following the Six-Day War in 1967. He will focus on changes in both Israel and the Arab world in light of current developments in the United States, Israel and the larger Middle East.  

Simon served in the Clinton and Obama administrations on the National Security Council — including serving as the NSC’s senior director for Middle Eastern and North African affairs from 2011 to 2012. He also served for 15 years in the State Department during the Reagan and Bush administrations. He is a former director of the U.S. and Middle East offices of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. 

Simon is the author or co-author of several books, including “The Age of Sacred Terror,” and “Our Separate Ways: The Struggle for the Future of the U.S.-Israel Alliance.” His new book, “The Long Goodbye: The US and Middle East from the Islamic Revolution to the Arab Spring,” will be released next year.

Kol Rinah is located at 829 North Hanley Road in University City. The event is free and open to the community. Simon’s talk is sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis through its Year of Civil Discourse Initiative.  It is funded by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis through the support of the Kranzberg Family Foundation, the Lubin-Green Foundation and the Staenberg Family Foundation.