Dennis B. Ross

Dennis B. Ross is currently Fellow and Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. For more than twelve years, during the George Herbert Walker Bush and Clinton administrations, Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process. He was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians in reaching the 1995 Interim Agreement. He instrumental in designing the Hebron Accord in 1997, and facilitated the Israeli-Jordan peace treaty. President Bill Clinton awarded Ross the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and Secretaries Baker and Albright presented him with the State Department's highest award.

"Ambassador Ross worked closely with former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III, Warren Christopher, and Madeleine K. Albright. Prior to his service as Special Middle East Coordinator under President Clinton, Ross served as Director of the State Department's Policy Planning office in the first Bush administration. He served as director of Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff during the Reagan administration, and as Deputy Director of the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment (1982-84). He did his undergraduate and graduate work at UCLA, writing a doctoral dissertation on Soviet Decision-Making. He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary and Syracuse University."

He served as Special Middle East Coordinator for the State Department from 1993-2001, Director of the State Department's Policy Planning office from 1989-93, Director of Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff during the Ronald Reagan administration, and as Deputy Director of the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment. He served as executive director of the Berkeley-Stanford program on Soviet international behavior from 1984 to 1986."

"Dennis Ross, lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School, is currently Distinguished Fellow and Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. For more than twelve years, during the Bush and Clinton administrations, Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process. He was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians in reaching the 1995 Interim Agreement. He successfully brokered the Hebron Accord in 1997, facilitated the Israeli-Jordan peace treaty, and intensively worked to bring Israel and Syria together. President Clinton awarded Ross the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and Secretaries Baker and Albright presented him with the State Department's highest award. Ambassador Ross worked closely with former Secretaries of State James Baker, Warren Christopher, and Madeleine Albright. Prior to his service as Special Middle East Coordinator under President Clinton, Ross served as Director of the State Department's Policy Planning office in the first Bush administration. He served as director of Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff during the Reagan administration, and as Deputy Director of the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment. He did his undergraduate and graduate work at UCLA, writing a doctoral dissertation on Soviet Decision-Making. He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary and Syracuse University."

Ratcheting the propaganda for a war against Iran
A few days after Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defense minister, admitted that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapons program, a series of officials and US politicians slighted or ignored Barak's assertion all the way to asserting the opposite, i.e., that Iran was actually pursuing such weapons program. Dennis Ross was instrumental in such drum beating, and this is what Ray McGovern, the former CIA senior officer who briefed several US presidents, had to say of Sanger's articles:
 * During the Warner interview, Dennis Ross performed true to form, projecting supreme confidence that he knows more about Iran's nuclear program than the Israeli Defense Minister and the U.S. intelligence community combined:
 * Margaret Warner: If you hamstring their [Iran's] Central Bank, and the U.S. persuades all these other big customers not to buy Iranian oil, that could be thought of as an act of war on the part of the Iranians. Is that a danger?
 * Ross: I think there's a context here. The context is that the Iranians continue to pursue a nuclear program. And unmistakably to many, that is a nuclear program whose purpose is to achieve nuclear weapons. That has a very high danger, a very high consequence. So the idea that they could continue with that and not realize that at some point they have to make a choice, and if they don't make the choice, the price they're going to pay is a very high one, that's the logic of increasing the pressure.
 * Never mind that the Israeli Defense Minister had told the press something quite different some 12 hours before.

Affiliations

 * America Abroad Media – member of the Advisory Board
 * Washington Institute for Near East Policy – Senior Fellow
 * Project for the New American Century – signatory to several of PNAC's statements
 * AIPAC – Executive director
 * Member of the Aspen Institute / Middle East Strategy Group
 * Member of the Aspen Strategy Group
 * Member, United States Consensus Council Roster for Search for Common Ground
 * International Council, Belfer Center
 * Jewish People Policy Institute – co-chairman (2012)
 * Leadership Group, U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project
 * Co-Founder & Former Co-Chairman, United Against Nuclear Iran
 * Honorary Board of Advisors, One Voice

Also see Ross's Harry Walker Agency biograpy and 1994 biography.

Resources and articles

 * Harvard Univ profile