Mediating in the Middle East: Ambassador Discusses Role of the U.S.

By Leigh DuPuy

As national news carried stories of celebrations and lootings in the streets of Baghdad, Ambassador Dennis Ross led a timely discussion on the role of U.S. involvement in the Middle East at the University Club on April 8. Sponsored by UMass Boston's Graduate Programs in Dispute Resolution, this was the second lecture in a three-part series focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The lessons of peacekeeping in the Middle East will become increasingly relevant," said Ross, currently the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "In terms of Iraq, the broader questions is what will happen in the region after the war?" he told the audience. "What do we do in the aftermath? Does the U.S. run everything? Will the U.N. come in? Do the Iraqi exiles come in?" Having played a major role in shaping the government's public policy for the region under three administrations, Ross shared what he feels are the considerable challenges and necessary resolutions.

"We will have a window of opportunity following the end of this war," he said. "We must multi-nationalize our involvement." He outlined what he believes to be critical next steps in rebuilding Iraq: establishing peacekeepers, creating an international civic administration, and focusing on an Iraqi-oriented transition. He believes that the transition process has to have a "distinct Iraqi footprint."

Perhaps the most dire challenges Ross identified were those that fuel terrorism: alienation, anger, hostility, and lost hope. "We have to deal with the hearts and minds of people. We are accused of enacting a double standard," he said. "We use democracy against those we don't like, not for those we do... If we are not consistent in our values, we appear to further embrace our 'double standard.'" He advocates the U.S. embracing a process for reform with a "degree of humility."

Naseer Aruri, an award-winning author who has written extensively on the Middle East and the conflict, was the third lecturer in the series and addressed the subject of Palestinian refugees for an audience on April 29 in the Chancellor's Conference Room.

Image: Dennis Ross, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, discusses the future of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, in his April 8 address at UMass Boston. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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