For almost three decades, Ross has been a leading figure in the diplomatic world of Soviet and Middle East policy. During the Reagan administration, he served as director of Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff. He was the director of policy planning in the State Department for George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton’s Middle East Peace envoy, and a special assistant to the President Obama.

As a point person in America’s ongoing role in the Middle Eastern peace process, Ross was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians in reaching the 1995 Interim Agreement. He successfully brokered the Hebron Accord in 1997, facilitated the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, and worked to bring Israel and Syria together.

In Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama, Ross provides a comprehensive account of America’s complicated history with Israel. Beginning with Israel’s inception, Ross chronicles the tense back-and-forth that has existed between our two countries for nearly three-quarters of a century. Ross describes how often America was forced to view Israel as a chess piece in a larger game with forces like the Soviet Union, pan-Arabism, and post-9/11 anti-terror strategy.

Ross is the Counselor and Davidson Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown. Book signing to follow.