Compelling Conversations - Is Peace Possible

A conversation with Ghaith al-Omari and Ambassador Dennis Ross.

On Tuesday, November 19, we will welcome Washington Institute for Near East Policy Fellows Ambassador Dennis Ross and Ghaith al-Omari for a fireside chat that will examine the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Ambassador Ross has extensive experience shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process; Ghaith al-Omari has held several positions in the Palestinian Authority, including as an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during the 1995-2001 permanent status talks. These experts will share their perspectives on the war and discuss what might follow it.

Moderated by Farid D. Senzai, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Welcome by James M. Glaser, Provost and Executive Vice President; Professor, Department of Political Science

Tuesday, November 19, 2024
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Locatelli Student Activity Center

Dessert and coffee will be served.

RSVP required; please bring your SCU Access card for entrance to the venue.

Ghaith al-Omari, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship, is the former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine. He served as advisor to the negotiating team during the 1999–2001 permanent-status talks in addition to holding various other positions within the Palestinian Authority.

Ambassador Dennis Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He also teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than twelve years, Amb. Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. He served two and half years as special assistant to President Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, spending the first 6 months of the Administration as the special advisor on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Dr. Farid Senzai is an associate professor of political science at Santa Clara University, teaching courses on U.S. foreign policy and Middle East politics. 

He is also the founder and president of Afghan Relief, a humanitarian organization dedicated to helping the most vulnerable in Afghanistan. Before starting Afghan Relief, Dr. Senzai was the founder and president of the Center for Global Policy (CGP), a think tank in Washington, DC, focusing on U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Dr. Senzai was previously a co-founder and the director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), where he conducted extensive research on Muslims in America.