ABSTRACT
The single, central, overriding obstacle to the Ronald Reagan Administration's efforts to revive the stalled Middle East peace process was the White House's inability to deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). During the 1980 presidential campaign, both Reagan and his running mate, George Bush, made it clear that, if elected, they would adopt a policy of unbridled hostility toward the PLO based upon their view that it represented a terrorist organization. The Reagan Administration's refusal to deal with the PLO until the very end of its tenure in office is consistent with the hard-line stance Americans took against the wave of terrorism which beset the international community during the 1980s. The PLO insisted that the United States recognize the right of the Palestinians to exercise self-determination as a precondition for the organization's willingness to accept the terms Washington had laid down as the basis for the opening of a formal dialogue between the two parties.
