Dr. Larry Goodson is the USAWC Professor of Middle East Studies and holds the Gen. Eisenhower Chair of National Security. He earned his doctoral degree at UNC-Chapel Hill; he's traveled extensively through the region, writes prolifically, and has consulted at the highest levels of the US government about Afghanistan and Western Asia.

Providing a historical context on the relationships between Russia, China and the U.S. where it concerns Afghanistan and Syria, Goodson framed his remarks using a "great game" analogy, where there are no rules, all players play not to lose and that nations have no permanent fiends or allies, just permanent interests. Today, the great game is a global game, and a nation can't focus on a single regional dimension in a world where Interests intersect, he said.