Middle East

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Lore & Background

The term 'Middle East' may have originated with the India Office of the United Kingdom in the 1850s, but became widely known through American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, who used it in his September 1902 article 'The Persian Gulf and International Relations' for the British journal National Review to 'designate the area between Arabia and India.' Mahan viewed the region as strategically centered on the Persian Gulf, writing that 'the British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, and the Persian Gulf.' His article was reprinted in The Times and followed by a 20-article series entitled 'The Middle Eastern Question' by British historian and diplomat Valentine Chirol, beginning in October 1902, which expanded the definition to include 'those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India.' After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term. Until World War II, 'Near East' referred to areas centered on Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean, while 'Middle East' denoted the area from Mesopotamia to Burma—now broadly corresponding with South Asia. In the late 1930s, the Cairo-based Middle East Command was established for the British Armed Forces, and after that time the term gained broader usage across both Europe and the United States. The Middle East Institute was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1946.

Reader's Guide

The Middle East's significance stems from its location at the intersection of Africa, Europe, and Asia, making it a region of great strategic importance for millennia. It was the first region settled by modern humans outside of Africa and the first where writing systems were developed. All core Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—originated there and have their holiest sites in the region. The Middle East is also critical for global energy supplies, as Gulf Arab states along the Persian Gulf hold vast petroleum reserves that have influenced regional politics. However, the region faces severe challenges from aridity and dependence on fossil fuels, making it highly vulnerable to climate change and water scarcity. The term itself has been criticized by scholars and journalists from the region, such as journalist Louay Khraish and historian Hassan Hanafi, as Eurocentric and colonialist. The first official use of the term by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, pertaining to the Suez Crisis, where Secretary of State John Foster Dulles 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.' In 1958, the State Department explained that 'Near East' and 'Middle East' were interchangeable, defining the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Middle East' may have originated with the India Office of the United Kingdom in the 1850s.
• American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan first used the term in his September 1902 article 'The Persian Gulf and International Relations' for the British journal National Review.
• The first official use of 'Middle East' by the U.S. government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, pertaining to the Suez Crisis.
• In 1958, the U.S. State Department defined the Middle East as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.
• The Middle East Institute was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1946.