Kai Bird on Bob Ames, Reagan, and the Two-State Solution

Keep the narrative flow going! Subscribe now for ad-free listening and to get bonus content. The story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is violent, full of sorrow, and littered with missed opportunities for lasting peace. The origins of the peace process might be traced to the late 1960s, when an American spy made his first clandestine contacts with the PLO. In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Kai Bird says Robert Ames had a vision for Palestinian self-determination. Ronald Reagan saw an opportunity to realize it, even as invasion, war, and terrorism swallowed Lebanon in 1982-83. Lebanon was the country where Bob Ames would lose his life, the country he tried to save. Recommended reading: The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird