“The United States and the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities” with Amb. Dennis Ross

The perception of the U.S. in the Middle East is changing. U.S. allies and adversaries took worrisome lessons from the Iran nuclear negotiations, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and responses to Houthi terrorist attacks on Gulf states. Join Ambassador Dennis Ross for a discussion on how the Biden administration can move forward with a Middle East policy that reassures America’s Gulf and Israeli partners and persuades Iran that nuclear advances and regional adventurism have consequences.

Ambassador Dennis Ross is counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Prior to returning to the institute in 2011, he served two years as special assistant to President Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, and a year as special advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

For more than twelve years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process and dealing directly with the parties in negotiations. A highly skilled diplomat, Ambassador Ross was U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. He was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians to reach the 1995 Interim Agreement; he also successfully brokered the 1997 Hebron Accord, facilitated the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, and intensively worked to bring Israel and Syria together.