The Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University in New York City focuses on the study of the Middle East, especially on its economies, cultures and politics. Helga Tawil Souri is executive director.

The Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska in Omaha is a center of research on the Afghan region, peoples and cultures, including the country’s politics. Charley Reed is the center’s media contact.

The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University In Washington, D.C., describes itself as the only academic center in the U.S. that focuses only on the Arab world, from Morocco to the Persian Gulf. Osama Abi-Mershed is its director.

The Carolina-Duke-Emory Institute for the Study of Islam is a joint project of three southeastern universities. Its principal focus is on Islam overseas.

Charles W. Sasser is a former Green Beret and combat correspondent and author of the 2008 book God in the Foxhole, a collection of stories of members of the military who used their faith to persevere in combat. He lives in Chouteau, Okla.

Dale R. Herspring is a political science professor emeritus at Kansas State University in Manhattan. He is an expert on the military and society.

James M. Dunn is vice president and chief investment officer at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs for 19 years and is frequently quoted on church-state issues.

Christopher J. Eberle is an assistant professor of philosophy at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He has written and spoken extensively on religion and culture, and can speak to issues of religious expression and diversity within the military.

Jonathan Shay is a Boston psychiatrist who specializes in combat trauma and is the author of Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. He won a 2007 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” for his work.