Ambassador Cameron Munter, CEO & President of the EastWest Institute, joined a panel discussion on July 24 in Belgrade to talk strategies and challenges facing America, Russia and the Middle East. The discussion, organized by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), also touched on the refugee crisis, Syria as well as volatile U.S-Russia relations.

Joining Munter were Vitaly Naumkin, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Science, and Vuk Jeremić, President of CIRSD.

Asked about what "went wrong" in Iraq and past U.S. policies in the region, Munter said that America used to see itself back then as the only superpower in a unipolar world. Munter said some really believed in the prospects of bringing democratic governance to the Middle East even if the idea seemed like an almost impossible undertaking.

Munter remarked that although some believe Americans went into Iraq for oil, numerous tenders had been issued following the fall of Saddam Hussein and none of which were won by U.S. companies. “Other conspiracy theories suggest that that our goal was to weaken the influence of Iran, whereas in reality, this influence has only increased,” he added.

For more details about the event, click here.

While in the region, the former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia also made a number of media appearances including TV station N1 and Danas.