LEWISTON – A former Middle East peace negotiator and foreign policy expert will speak from 7:30-9 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at Bates College.

Ambassador Dennis Ross will speak on “Statecraft in the Middle East” in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave. The event is free and open to the public. Ross will sign copies of his book, “Statecraft, and How to Restore America’s Standing in the World.”

For more than 12 years, Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process and dealing with the parties in negotiations. He was U.S. point man on the peace process for presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Ross was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians to reach the 1995 interim agreement; he also successfully brokered the 1997 Hebron Accord, facilitated the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty and worked to bring Israel and Syria together.

His appearance is hosted by the Bates Republicans, in conjunction with the Bates College Student Government, College Lecture Series, Hillel, Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Anti-Defamation League, and the Young America’s Foundation, as well as the history, politics, sociology, theater and rhetoric, and Asian studies departments.