All Policy Analysis by Dennis Ross

Why has the United States consistently failed to achieve its strategic goals in the Middle East? According to Dennis Ross and David Makovsky, two of America's leading experts on the region, it is because we have been laboring under false assumptions, or mythologies, about the nature and motivation of Middle

Everywhere you look in the Middle East today, Iran is threatening U.S. interests and the political order. One Arab ambassador told me recently that the Iranians are reminding Arab leaders that America didn't help Fuad Siniora, the prime minister of Lebanon, or Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, when they

On October 3, 2008, Matthew Levitt, Ghaith al-Omari, and Dennis Ross addressed a Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute to honor the launch of Dr. Levitt's new book, Negotiating Under Fire. Dr. Levitt is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and the director of the Stein Program on

This article is also available on the Washington Quarterly website. Americans are hungry for an explanation of foreign policy that makes sense. They certainly want to know what happened in Iraq and what went wrong. Even more important, they want to know whether the United States can fix its foreign

On May 30, 2008, Natan Sharansky, Itamar Rabinovich, James Woolsey, and Dennis Ross addressed The Washington Institute's 2008 Soref Symposium. Natan Sharansky is a former Israeli minister and human rights advocate. Itamar Rabinovich is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States and former chief Israeli negotiator with Syria. James

President Bush evoked considerable controversy when he compared those who call for talks with "terrorists and radicals" to Nazi appeasers. Making such a charge in the Israeli Knesset, where the lessons of the Holocaust inform every Israeli leader, was bound to give it a special weight and attention. While some

On April 24, 2008, Ambassador Dennis Ross testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security. The following is an excerpt from his prepared remarks. When President George W. Bush assumed office in 2001, Iran was not a

It is interesting to be asked about what victory in Iraq might mean. It suggests, of course, that victory in Iraq might now be in our grasp or within reach. Apart from requiring a definition of victory, something that is not self-evident, this assumes that the path to success in

On the day that Pakistan saw a new prime minister sworn into office, one of Pakistan's leading newspapers, The News, led with the headline, "Hands Off Please, Uncle Sam." The article was a response to the arrival of two senior American envoys, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant

On March 14, 2008, Ghaith al-Omari, James G. Lindsay, David Makovsky, and Dennis Ross addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. al-Omari is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine. Mr. Lindsay is former chief counsel with the UN Relief and Works Agency and a

Qassam rocket strikes from Hamas-controlled Gaza -- recently amplified by longer-range Iranian-made Grad rockets -- continue to rain down on Israeli civilian targets, triggering military retaliations. What is Hamas's strategy, toward both Israel and the ordinary Palestinians under its own rule in Gaza? What is the nature and outcome of

When President Bush assumed office, Iran was not a nuclear power. When his successor takes the oath of office next year, however, Iran will have achieved (or be on the verge of achieving) that status. Nothing the Bush Administration or the international community is doing now is likely to alter

Senator John McCain often attacks the two Democratic presidential front-runners for their soft stance on Iraq. "Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will withdraw our force from Iraq based on an arbitrary timetable designed for the sake of political expediency," he recently said, "which recklessly ignores the profound human calamity and

Yale University's journal of politics, The Politic, interviewed Institute counselor and Ziegler distinguished fellow Dennis Ross for its February 17 issue. Avi Kupfer conducted the interview. From your experience of over twenty years as a diplomat, how would you characterize the approach each administration took regarding the threat of terrorism

In the wake of Hamas blowing up the border fence between Egypt and Gaza the images of Palestinians from Gaza streaming across the border into Egypt were unsettling to the Israelis, Egyptians, Palestinian Authority, and Bush Administration. Only Hamas benefited from the images. In breaking down the wall sealing the