Expert in Soviet and Middle East Policy to Speak on Campus

Update: Event has been canceled and will be rescheduled for the near future. Mr. Ross was personally requested by Senator Barack Obama to attend an event in Richmond, VA on the same day as the ASM.

October 17, 2008 -Ambassador Dennis Ross, currently a consultant to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and formerly the Washington Institute’s counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow, will speak at All-School Meeting on October 22 about his experiences and perspectives on Middle East foreign policy. For more than 12 years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process. A highly skilled diplomat, he was the 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 and also successfully brokered the 1997 Hebron Accord, facilitated the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, and worked tirelessly to bring Israel and Syria together.

A scholar and diplomat with more than two decades of experience in Soviet and Middle East policy, Ambassador Ross played a prominent role in U.S. policy toward the former Soviet Union, the unification of Germany and its integration into NATO, arms control negotiations, and the 1991 Gulf War coalition. During the Reagan administration, he served as director of Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff and deputy director of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment. Ambassador Ross was awarded the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service by President Clinton, and Secretaries Baker and Albright presented him with the State Department’s highest award.

A 1970 graduate of UCLA, Ambassador Ross received UCLA’s highest medal and has been named UCLA alumnus of the year. He has also received honorary doctorates from Amherst, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Syracuse University.

Ambassador Ross has published dozens of newspaper and magazine articles on the former Soviet Union, arms control, and the greater Middle East and contributed numerous chapters to anthologies. He is also a frequent contributor to the Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and U.S. News and World Report, as well as a foreign affairs analyst for Fox News Channel. His book, The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace, offers comprehensive analytical and personal insight into the Middle East peace process. His newest book is titled Statecraft, And How to Restore America's Standing in the World.