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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[…]

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

Question: Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the way the world is headed?

Dennis Ross: Well if you work on the Arab-Israeli issue for as long as I have, you almost have to _________ be an optimist. You always believe you can change things. It’s hard to be optimistic today when you look at everything; but the fact is we have the power to change. It’s within our means to do that. And as long as that’s the case, I’ll remain optimistic.

Recorded on: September 12, 2007

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