From his exile in Syria, Khaled Meshal, the top ranked member of Hamas, exercises leadership and serves as the group’s diplomatic envoy.

A leading Mideast expert, Martin S. Indyk, says Israeli troops are likely to enter Gaza to end Hamas-directed rocket attacks, with the hope of yielding to international peacekeepers.

Gerald M. Steinberg, an Israeli-American national security expert, says the initial Israeli alarm over the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear weapons program has eased.

Joshua Landis, a leading Syria specialist, says a prospective Syrian-Israeli peace agreement is "very feasible," though perhaps not quickly.

CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook argues that in an era of diminished resources for the United States, Turkey can play a critical and constructive role in the Middle East.