Happymon Jacob speaks to Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad (retired Indian diplomat and author) about the current state of affairs in West Asia. He provides a sweeping survey of politics in West Asia in the context of great power politics. He provides a critical account of US interventionism in the region and its consequences, both intended and unintended.Ahmad traces the genealogy of various regional conflicts: Arab-Israeli (Israel-Palestine) conflict, the stand-off between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and other major crises in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Ahmad also offers a way forward.