Eric Rouleau (1926–2015) dominated news coverage of the Middle East in France and well beyond for decades as grand reporter and head of the Middle East Department at the authoritative French daily Le Monde . A third worldist, an unapologetic man of the Left, and a steadfast champion of the Palestinians, he nonetheless enjoyed unparalleled access to the Israeli leadership, the region's heads of state both right and left, as well as opponents and revolutionaries of all stripes. This tribute, by a former associate editor of this journal and a friend of Rouleau's for forty years, tells of a larger-than-life figure who began as a reporter at a small Egyptian newspaper and went on to become one of the most influential journalists of his time, adviser to the French president, and ambassador.

Over the last thirty years, Hafiz al-Asad has striven to make his country indispensable to any Middle East settlement. Netanyahu's victory, however, and a hardening of U.S. sentiment toward Syria, are threatening to marginalize him. While analyzing Netanyahu's thinking on Syria and Syria's possible responses, the article reviews Asad's years in power and the essential unity of his career. It traces his evolution from the quest for "strategic parity" to the quest for "comprehensive peace," showing how both grew out of the same root: Asad's central aim of "containing" Israel.