The Middle East in geographic terms

Very few regions in the world have given rise to uncertainty in terms of geographical definition as has the ‘region’ known as the Middle East. Whilst everyone agrees that the word ‘Middle’ is used to refer to the middle of other (neighbouring) regions, there has been little consensus – whether within the academic community, within political or diplomatic circles or within any other community or indeed among these communities themselves – in relation to where the outer-boundaries of this ‘middle area’ lie or exactly how ‘East’ should one go when attempting a geographical definition in this case. From the various definitions, which have emerged over the years, it would appear that defining the Middle East is an exercise that is ‘relative’ rather than ‘absolute’ depending on, among other factors, geographical perspective as well as political, social, cultural and ethnic factors. Thus, if one considers the geographical definition of the Middle East commonly used within the United States of America (USA), one would find that it is a definition that has in large part rested on two important components of US foreign policy, namely the Arab–Israeli or Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the interest in and security of the vast oil resources in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. Hence, the Middle East according to this definition would appear to include Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.