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This podcast is part of an ongoing TCF series that explores progressive policy proposals for America\u2019s most pressing international priorities.\nAmerica has had an inflated military presence since 9/11, especially in the Middle East. Defense budgets are historically bloated, and policymakers have avoided making choices about closing bases and reducing troop deployments.\xa0\nPolitical support is waning for the forever war and politicians from both major American parties agree that the United States needs to scale back its global military entanglements and set real priorities. The Middle East, many of them say, has occupied policy attention that should be directed to other, more pressing priorities.\xa0\nNow the tough questions concern the details: What would a right-sized U.S. military presence look like in the Middle East? If the U.S. military shouldn\u2019t have quite so many bases in the region and troops deployed, what is the right amount? What wars should the United States be prepared to fight? How, politically, can American leaders sell the idea of containing threats instead of setting impossible but popular goals, like entirely eliminating terrorism? What\u2019s a reasonable budget?\xa0\nParticipants include:\nMara Karlin, director of strategic studies, Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies\nMichael Wahid Hanna, senior fellow, The Century Foundation\nThanassis Cambanis, senior fellow, The Century Foundation