Severe political constraints on Israeli and Palestinian leaders cloud the prospects for progress in direct talks due to start later this week, says CFR’s Steven A. Cook.

Nathan J. Brown, an expert on Arab and Palestinian politics, says despite the major split in Palestinian ranks between Fatah and Hamas, it is “unlikely in the extreme” that some kind of peace arrange…

Steven A. Cook, a Middle East expert, says he sees no chance the United States would break away from Israel and deal directly with Hamas in the Israeli-Palestinian peace dialogue, even if it might he…

Political analyst David Makovsky says chances for success by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in putting together a package that warrants holding a Middle East conference remain uncertain.

Dennis Ross, the former U.S. Mideast peace envoy who is now Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for  Near Eastern Policy, warns that President Bush’s call for a con…