Dennis Ross

Dennis Ross’s distinguished career in international relations began with pivotal roles in U.S. government, starting in the 1970s within the Pentagon under Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz during the Jimmy Carter administration. He then served in the Reagan administration as Director of Near East and South Asian affairs in the U.S. National Security Council and as Deputy Director of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment from 1982 to 1984.

He also became a frequent contributor to major publications such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, and served as a foreign affairs analyst for Fox News. In the Obama administration, from 2009 to 2011, Ross returned to government service, first as Special Advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and subsequently as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region on the National Security Council. After stepping down in 2011, he rejoined The Washington Institute as the William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, Counselor, and part of the Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship. In 2015, his expertise was further recognized with the National Jewish Book Award for his critically acclaimed work, Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama.