Schenectady, N.Y. (May 16, 2002) –
Ambassador Dennis Ross, who for more than 12 years played the leading role in
shaping U.S. involvement with the Middle East peace process, will speak on Tuesday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel at Union College.
His talk, part of the Frederick E.
Miller Lecture Series in Honor of Anwar Sadat, is free and open to the public.
Ross led U.S. involvement in the
Middle East peace process and in dealing directly with the negotiations. As the architect of the peace process, he was instrumental in assisting the Israelis and Palestinians in reaching the 1995 Interim Agreement, and he brokered the Hebron Accord in 1997. He facilitated the Israeli-Jordan peace treaty and worked to bring Israel and Syria together.
Ross, recently appointed director
of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he believes the Clinton administration has laid the foundation for eventual Arab-Israeli peace. “The taboos have been broken and the core issues have been de-mystified. The question is not whether there will be peace, but when. Of course, the 'when' is profoundly important because the potential for more violence, more victims, and more pain, remains quite real.”
Ross is the first chairman of a
new Jerusalem-based think tank, the Institute for Jewish People Policy
Planning, funded and founded by the Jewish Agency.
A scholar and diplomat with more
than two decades of experience in Soviet and Middle Eastern policy, Ross worked closely with Secretaries of State James Baker, Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.
Prior to his service as Special
Middle East Coordinator under Clinton, Ross served as director of the State
Department's Policy Planning office during the Bush administration. In that
position, 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 development of the Gulf war coalition. 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.
President Clinton has awarded
Ambassador Ross the Presidential medal for “Distinguished Federal Civilian
Service” and Secretaries Baker and Albright presented him with the State
Department's highest award.
For calendar listings:
Speaker: Ambassador Dennis Ross, architect of U.S. role in
Middle East peace process
Date: Tuesday, May 28
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Memorial Chapel, Union College
Cost: free and open to public
Information: 388-6131