Pictured is Ambassador Dennis Ross, a counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Ross provided an update on the Middle East on Chautauqua Institution’s online platform, CHQ Assembly. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

The annual Middle East Update from Chautauqua Institution was a timely one.

The discussion was hosted last week by Matt Ewalt of Chautauqua Institution and Geoffrey Kemp, senior director of Regional Security Programs at the Center for the National Interest. Ambassador Dennis Ross, counselor and William and Davidson distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy participated, providing an overview on the situation.

Ross is no stranger to the Middle East — he was a special assistant to President Barack Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region. He was also instrumental in the Middle East peace process in the Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton’s administrations.

The update has occurred at Chautauqua for almost 30 years and hosted by Kemp, who said he was thrilled to be back for this year’s update.

“I think you’ll all agree that right now is perhaps one of the more interesting and challenging times we’ve had in the Middle East for many, many years,” Kemp said. “Now only new leaders and new problems, but of course against the backdrop of the worst pandemic the world has seen since 1918.”

Ross jumped into the topic with vigor, starting with the Afghanistan withdrawal by the United States.

“It probably took a bold decision for us to get out because the easiest thing to do was to stay there,” he said. “But, as we’ve seen, we were never to create within Afghanistan an Afghanistan government that could really stand on its own two feet. There’s all sorts of reasons for that. We couldn’t remake the country. The level of corruption was almost endemic, and we fell into a pattern of inertia where it was easier to continue what we were doing even when we made different efforts.”

Ross said the problem isn’t the withdrawal itself, especially after having been there for 20 years.

“You put your finger on what is the problem and you describe it as a messy withdrawal,” he said. “It was worse than that in that we had a moral obligation to those who had signed up with us and those who had committed to work with us. The military developed a withdrawal plan, but that plan was geared to only one mission and the mission was to get American forces out safely — a completely understandable mission, but it wasn’t the only mission.”

Ross said the plan didn’t deal with evacuating others who had worked with the United States, and military personnel was taken out before the civilians. He said there are clear questions about the imagery of the withdrawal and how it unfolded.

“All that has raised questions in the minds of those who have been longtime partners of the United States and it is a challenge for us to address those,” he said. “I for one like to point out that this notion that ‘Well, the U.S. lacks credibility,’ — that’s not the first time I’ve heard that argument — it certainly won’t be the last.”

He cited instances such as the evacuation of Vietnam and pulling out of Lebanon. He said the sheer fact is “no one else has the power we have.”

Ross pointed out that Iran has also gone through its own shift in power with new leadership that has a different viewpoint than previous leaders, especially when it comes to the Islamic Republic and confrontation with the United States.

“They look at confrontation with the United States through a very different kind of lens,” he said. “…We see them challenging the United States in what I would describe as their own version of a maximum pressure policy. You look at what they’re doing on their nuclear program — they are enriching (Uranium) to 60%. That in some ways should have set off not just alarm bells; there should have been a consequence for that. It’s a very small move to get from that to weapons-grade enrichment.”

Ross later pointed out that the situation is interesting, especially with the proximity and possible involvement of both China and Russia in the region.

Kemp then asked Ross to give an overview of the new government in Israel, especially with the departure of Bibi Netanyahu.

“We have a completely unprecedented government in Israel,” Ross said. “It came together precisely because there was an agreement that Bibi Netanyahu was challenging the fundamental institutions of the state, and so even those on the right who ideologically agreed with him felt that his posture was a threat to the state and its institutions. The interesting thing is this is a government that so far seems to be functioning even though, ideologically, they are very diverse and disagree on basic issues.”

He said the irony of the situation is that Netanyahu is the one who holds the government together as he leads the opposition and is “determined to bring them down.”

“And they are determined to show that they can function as a government and get things done,” Ross said.

He added that there isn’t a way to resolve the “Israeli-Palestinian Issue.”

“First of all, the division between Palestinians makes it impossible to negotiate with the Israelis,” Ross said. “I’m being somewhat facetious but it’s not a stretch – the Palestinians can’t make peace with Israel if they can’t make peace with themselves.”

While he said there isn’t a good outlook for complete peace at the moment, the best way to move forward is to “look for ways to reduce friction.”

“You should improve the day-to-day realities for Palestinians on the ground and you should look for ways to create some sense of hope for the future,” he said.