AMNA NAWAZ: Now to a deeper look at the Middle East, the recent and the ripple effects across the globe.

Geoff Bennett has that conversation, which he recorded GEOFF BENNETT: War correspondent Scott Anderson has spent nearly reporting from some of the world's most volatile places.

his landmark "New York Times" magazine project "Fractured across the Middle East as war, dictatorship, and the Arab A decade later, the map has changed again.

Bashar al-Assad the war in Gaza has reshaped the region, and the U.S.

is now at Anderson's latest book, "King of Kings," examines the fall of 1978 and the Islamic Revolution that followed and still shapes And Scott Anderson joins us now.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

SCOTT ANDERSON, Author, "King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation": GEOFF BENNETT: When you wrote "Fractured Lands," you told this Ten years later, where are they now?

who was a ISIS fighter who I interviewed when he was in interviewed him.

Two of them are in exile in Europe, one in And for the other three, life is kind of a stasis.

It's Majdi, a failed state.

He's just kind of trapped there.

and, yes, it's GEOFF BENNETT: And how does what happened to them, what does that say about what has happened to the region?

SCOTT ANDERSON: I think that there was a time when there was some optimism for some of these countries.

I remember when I did the "Fractured Lands" project, a bright spot.

Five years on from the Arab Spring revolts, democracy there.

That's gone now.

Kind of across the region, Certainly, the dictatorship in Egypt under General Sisi is far was under Mubarak.

You have Syria, which is a failed state, essentially.

Things have just become worse and worse, I think.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the Arab Spring promised political change the Middle East.

Why didn't any of that come to fruition?

SCOTT ANDERSON: There was this golden moment when it looked to happen.

But I think just the powers that be is -- it comes And you saw it in Syria.

And Syria was a classic -- really case of people rising up against a brutal dictatorship.

and they just machine-gunned into submission.

And it happened to a overthrow -- the return of the strongman in Tunisia was more of GEOFF BENNETT: Is the Middle East more fractured today than "Fractured Lands," or has the nature of the fracture in many SCOTT ANDERSON: The nature of the fractures have changed.

Now, with the U.S.-Iran war, we're right at the cusp of a chessboard in the region.

Certainly, the spheres of going to become a much more powerful regional player in a It's lost a lot of its proxy fighting allies in the region, but now economically it can -- it can dictate terms to a large GEOFF BENNETT: So, on that point, does attacking Iran, does it weaken the regime or does it in some way strengthen SCOTT ANDERSON: It strengthens it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Really?

SCOTT ANDERSON: It strengthens it.

In January, there was an uprising against the Iranian all across the country, and the regime realized it was on its -- machine-gunned its way out of it, killed certainly thousands, Going forward into end of February, when the Israelis and this idea that there is going to be another uprising, that's just Instead, what happens, because you have this latent and very especially anti-American feeling in Iran, nobody likes to be foreign countries as a general rule.

So, in a way, it just GEOFF BENNETT: Looking broadly at the Middle East, who is most SCOTT ANDERSON: I think the Gulf states are at a very sensitive Certainly, Dubai has built itself up as this transportation hub.

That's taken a real hit.

And all you have to do is send a it scares the -- it scares everybody away.

Planes don't think Saudi Arabia is in -- is going to be in trouble too for GEOFF BENNETT: You've spent decades reporting on the American power in the region.

We just marked 25 years after 25 years of U.S.

power really shaping the Middle East.

Are we watching that era come to an end?

SCOTT ANDERSON: Absolutely.

We're absolutely seeing it come after Iraq, now after Iran.

Iran is a fiasco in the making for I think the standing of American prestige and power in the region One thing I think that the Trump administration didn't take into has changed the face of modern war.

And it's a And it has -- it doesn't matter how huge an army you have in the great equalizer.

And so aircraft carriers, tanks, they no, I think America's prestige is way down in the region and GEOFF BENNETT: If American influence is receding, who or SCOTT ANDERSON: I think you're going to see regional players is playing a bigger and bigger role, both in the Gulf area and I think Israel is going -- is actually weakened by all this.

and bringing in Gulf states in recognition.

I think that's by their actions in Gaza.

It's possible that you will see Iran, GEOFF BENNETT: Scott Anderson.

Latest book is "King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and A pleasure to speak with you.

SCOTT ANDERSON: Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: That conversation was produced in partnership with