Lingering Colonialism

The Middle East lies at the juncture of Africa; Eurasia; the Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea. It is the common term for a region consisting of countries in southwest Asia, the birthplace and spiritual center of religions such as Christianity; Islam; Judaism; Manichaeism; Yezidi; Druze; Yarsan; Mandeanism; and in Iran, Mithraism; Zoroastrianism; Manicheanism, and the Bahá?í Faith.

The six top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are Arabic; Persian; Turkish; Kurdish; Hebrew and Greek. Arabic with all its dialects and Hebrew represent the Afro-Asiatic language family. Whilst, Persian, Kurdish and Greek belong to the Indo-European language family. While, Turkish belongs to Turkic language family. About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the Middle East.

Throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs, a strategically; economically; politically; culturally, and religiously sensitive area.

The "Middle East" (term originally coined in English as a geopolitical region encompassing, the Arabian Peninsula; the Levant; Turkey; Egypt (the only country that is in Africa); Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term "Near East" (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The term 'Middle East' has led to some confusion over its ever changing definitions.

The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the geopolitical importance of the region being recognized for millennia.

Arabs constitute the main ethnic group in the region, followed by Turks; Persians; Kurds; Azeris; Copts; Jews; Assyrians; Iraqi Turkmen; Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots.

The term 'Middle East' may have originated in the 1850s in the ‘British India Office’. However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist and historian "Alfred Thayer Mahan" (1840–1914) used the term in 1902 to designate the area between Arabia and India. During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, a rivalry which would become known as the Great Game.

Until World War II, it was customary to refer to areas cantered around Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "Near East", while the "Far East" cantered on China, and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East.

Before the First World War, 'Near East' was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while 'Middle East' referred to the Caucasus; Persia; Arabian lands; sometimes Afghanistan; India, and others... In contrast, 'Far East' referred to the countries of East Asia (e.g. China, Japan and Korea).

The first official use of the term 'Middle East' by the United States government was in the "1957 Eisenhower Doctrine", which pertained to the Suez Crisis. Secretary of State "John Foster Dulles" (1888–1959) defined the Middle East as, "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east; Syria and Iraq on the North; and the Arabian Peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."

Whereby, in 1958, the 'State Department' explained that the terms 'Near East' and 'Middle East' were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only, Egypt; Syria; Israel; Lebanon; Jordan; Iraq; Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Bahrain, and Qatar.

Nonetheless, the countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – are occasionally included in definitions of the Middle East.

Whereas, "Greater Middle East" was a political term coined by the "Second Bush Administration" in the first decade of the 21st century, to denote various countries, pertaining to the Muslim world, specifically Afghanistan; Iran; Pakistan, and Turkey. Various Central Asian countries are sometimes also included.

Most noteworthy, the term 'Middle East' has also been criticized by journalist "Louay Khraish" and historian "Hassan Hanafi" for being a 'Eurocentric' and predominantly 'Colonialist' term…

Food for thought!