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Dennis Ross

Special Advisor, U.S. State Department

Dennis Ross is an American diplomat and author. He has served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush, the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton, and is currently a special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia (that includes Iran) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Ambassador Dennis Ross is The Washington Institute's counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow. 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.

A scholar and diplomat with more than two decades of experience in Soviet and Middle East policy, Ambassador Ross worked closely with Secretaries of State James Baker, Warren Christopher, and Madeleine Albright. Prior to his service as special Middle East coordinator under President Clinton, Ambassador Ross served as director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff in the first Bush administration. In that capacity, he 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.

What would you change about the American political process?

Ross mourns an atmosphere so poisonous that Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on the basics.

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Is the Israeli lobby that powerful?

Mearshimer and Walt’s book on the Israeli lobby has an ideologically-driven, rather than fact-based approach, says Ross.

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Whom would you like to interview and what would you ask?

Ross wants to ask Nelson Mandela how how he retained his capacity to see the needs of the other, rather than being consumed by hate.

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What forces have shaped Israel?

A state that emerged from the horrors of the Holocaust, Israel is still dealing with questions of legitimacy, reconciliation, and terror.

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10 min

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Where do Israeli and U.S. foreign policies converge?

America and Israel agree on the need for peace, says Ross.

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Are we headed for a military conflict with Iran?

Although the Iranian elite wants nuclear weapons, Ross says, not all of them want it at any price.

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Iraq: What’s Next?

We need a comprehensive, three-fold approach, Ross says.

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What is the world’s greatest challenge in the coming decade?

Climate change has repercussions in poverty, health, refugee flows, and security.

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What should be the U.S. role in the Middle East?

We need to be effective in a way that makes it seem we are acting in everyone’s best interests, Ross says.

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How should the U.S. reengage with Europe?

Start with climate change.

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What is the art of statecraft?

Dennis Ross talks about the what and the how of diplomacy.

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What is your question?

We should all ask ourselves what we can do on a daily basis to make things better, Dennis Ross says.

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How can America restore its reputation abroad?

We need to be clear about what it takes to be able to get others to join with us.

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The domino effect of climate change.

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What is your outlook?

Working on the Arab-Israeli conflict makes everything else look easy.

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What is your counsel?

We need to become identified again with the broader public good.

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What inspires you?

Ross is motivated by the human price of conflict.

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What do you believe?

It is important to have a passion in life that’s bigger than yourself, says Ross.

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As a negotiator, Ross became a believer in the forces of personality and technology.

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What do you do?

Ross is a scholar and practitioner of American foreign policy in the Middle East.

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Ross grew up in California, steeped in public service and activism.

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How do you contribute?

Ross hopes his work will help people resolve conflict in an analytical and productive manner.

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