Among folks who know more about Middle East policy than I do, Dennis Ross is a contentious figure for reasons I've never quite been able to pin down. The most compelling anti-Ross take I've seen came from Scott MacLeod, who argues that Ross has worked assiduously to put forward a one-sided, and incredibly damaging, narrative of the Camp David talks that laid all the blame at Arafat's feet and intentionally downplays the legitimate concerns of the Palestinian side. In any case, Obama is drawing Ross pretty close, and has named him his sole adviser on his upcoming Middle East trip. Obama has also dropped Rob Malley -- Ross's more liberal, Clinton-era colleague -- from his list of advisers. So, for now, it looks like Obama is signaling an adherence to the more conservative aspects of the Clinton-era approach, and surrounding himself with folks who believe the more conservative narrative about what went wrong.
