Editing Middle East (section)

==Terminology==
The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British [[India Office]].{{Sfn | Beaumont | Blake | Wagstaff | 1988 | p = 16}} However, it became more widely known when [[United States]] naval strategist [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]] used the term in 1902<ref>{{cite journal | last =Koppes | first = CR |title = Captain Mahan, General Gordon and the origin of the term "Middle East" |journal=Middle East Studies |volume=12 |pages= 95–98 |year= 1976 |doi = 10.1080/00263207608700307| issn=0026-3206 }}</ref> to "designate the area between Arabia and India".<ref>{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Bernard | title= The Middle East and the West |year= 1965 |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Fromkin | first = David | author-link = David Fromkin | title = A Peace to end all Peace | year = 1989 | page = [https://archive.org/details/peacetoendallpea0000from/page/224 224] | isbn = 978-0-8050-0857-9 | title-link = A Peace to End All Peace | publisher = H. Holt }}</ref>

During this time the [[British Empire|British]] and [[Russian Empire|Russian]] empires were vying for influence in [[Central Asia]], a rivalry that would become known as the [[Great Game]]. Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>{{Citation | last = Melman | first = Billie | url = http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010 | publisher = Cambridge | title = Companion to Travel Writing | volume = 6 The Middle East/Arabia | series = Collections Online | access-date = 8 January 2006 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725125839/http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010 | archive-date = 25 July 2011 | date = November 2002 }}.</ref><ref>Palmer, Michael A. ''Guardians of the Persian Gulf: A History of America's Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf, 1833–1992.'' New York: The Free Press, 1992.  {{ISBN|0-02-923843-9}} pp. 12–13.</ref> He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East. He said that, beyond Egypt's [[Suez Canal]], the Gulf was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards [[British Raj|British India]].<ref>Laciner, Sedat. "[http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=2117  Is There a Place Called 'the Middle East'?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220093342/http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=2117 |date=2007-02-20 }}", ''The Journal of Turkish Weekly'', 2 June 2006. Retrieved 10 January 2007.</ref> Mahan first used the term in his article "The Persian Gulf and International Relations", published in September 1902 in the ''[[National Review (London)|National Review]]'', a British journal.
{{Blockquote|The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need [[Malta Protectorate|its Malta]], as well as [[Capture of Gibraltar|its Gibraltar]]; it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf.  Naval force has the quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences; but it needs to find on every scene of operation established bases of refit, of supply, and in case of disaster, of security. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about [[Aden Province|Aden]], India, and the Persian Gulf.{{Sfn | Adelson | 1995 | pp = 22–23}}}}

Mahan's article was reprinted in ''[[The Times]]'' and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled "The Middle Eastern Question", written by Sir [[Ignatius Valentine Chirol]]. During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of ''Middle East'' to include "those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of [[India]] or command the approaches to India."{{Sfn | Adelson | 1995 | p = 24}} After the series ended in 1903, ''The Times'' removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term.{{Sfn | Adelson | 1995 | p = 26}}

Until [[World War II]], it was customary to refer to areas centered around [[Turkey]] and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "[[Near East]]", while the "[[Far East]]" centered on [[China]], [[India]] and [[Japan]].<ref name="davison">{{cite journal | last =Davison | first = Roderic H. |title= Where is the Middle East? |journal= Foreign Affairs | volume = 38 |pages=665–675 |year=1960 |doi=10.2307/20029452 |issue=4| jstor = 20029452 | s2cid = 157454140 }}</ref>

The Middle East was then defined as the area from [[Mesopotamia]] to [[Burma]]; namely, the area between the Near East and the Far East.<ref name=wapo2016 /><ref name=UNC /> In the late 1930s, the British established the [[Middle East Command]], which was based in [[Cairo]], for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term "Middle East" gained broader usage in Europe and the United States. Following World War II, for example, the [[Middle East Institute]] was founded in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1946.<ref>{{cite book | last =Held | first = Colbert C. |title=Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics | url =https://archive.org/details/middleeastpatter00held_0 | url-access =registration |publisher=Westview Press |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/middleeastpatter00held_0/page/7 7] |isbn= 978-0-8133-8221-0}}</ref>

The corresponding adjective is ''Middle Eastern'' and the derived noun is ''Middle Easterner''.

While non-Eurocentric terms such as "Southwest Asia" or "Swasia" have been sparsely used, the classification of the African country, Egypt, among those counted in the Middle East challenges the usefulness of using such terms.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=25741178|title=Constructing and naturalizing the Middle Easr|first=Karen|last=Culcasi|journal=[[Geographical Review]]|volume=100|issue=4|year=2010|pages=583–597|doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2010.00059.x|bibcode=2010GeoRv.100..583C |s2cid=154611116}}</ref>

===Usage and criticism===
[[File:Middle East.ogv|thumb|1957 American film about the Middle East]]

The description ''Middle'' has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the [[World War I|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]], and Arabian lands,<ref name=wapo2016>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/19/the-modern-middle-east-is-actually-only-100-years-old/| title = How the Middle East was invented | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> and sometimes [[Afghanistan]], [[India]] and others.<ref name=UNC>{{Cite web|url=https://mideast.unc.edu/where/|title=Where Is the Middle East? &#124; Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies}}</ref> In contrast, "[[Far East]]" referred to the countries of [[East Asia]] (e.g. [[China]], [[Japan]], and [[Korea]]).<ref>Clyde, Paul Hibbert, and Burton F. Beers. ''The Far East: A History of Western Impacts and Eastern Responses, 1830-1975'' (1975). [https://archive.org/details/lccn_0133029687 online]</ref><ref>Norman, Henry. ''The Peoples and Politics of the Far East: Travels and studies in the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Siam and Malaya'' (1904) [https://archive.org/details/peoplesandpolit05normgoog online]</ref>

With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, "Near East" largely fell out of common use in English, while "Middle East" came to be applied to the emerging independent countries of the [[Islamic world]]. However, the usage "Near East" was retained by a variety of academic disciplines, including [[archaeology]] and [[ancient history]]. In their usage, the term describes an area identical to the term ''Middle East'', which is not used by these disciplines (see [[ancient Near East]]).{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] was in the 1957 [[Eisenhower Doctrine]], which pertained to the [[Suez Crisis]]. 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]]."<ref name="davison"/> In 1958, the [[United States Department of State|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]].<ref>{{cite news |title= 'Near East' is Mideast, Washington Explains |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E10FC3D59127A93C6A81783D85F4C8585F9&scp=1&sq='Near%20East'%20is%20Mideast,%20Washington%20Explains&st=cse |newspaper= The New York Times |date= 14 August 1958 |access-date= 25 January 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091015044505/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E10FC3D59127A93C6A81783D85F4C8585F9&scp=1&sq=%27Near%20East%27%20is%20Mideast%2C%20Washington%20Explains&st=cse |archive-date= 15 October 2009 }}{{subscription required}}</ref>

Since the late 20th century, scholars and journalists from the region, such as journalist Louay Khraish and historian [[Hassan Hanafi]] have criticized the use of "Middle East" as a [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] and [[Colonialism|colonialist]] term.<ref name="dont">{{cite web |last=Khraish |first=Louay |date=16 July 2021 |title=Don't Call Me Middle Eastern |publisher=Raseef 22|url=https://raseef22.net/article/1083546-dont-call-me-middle-eastern}}</ref><ref name="hanafi">{{cite web |last=Hanafi |first=Hassan |location=Oslo |year=1998 |title=The Middle East, in whose world? (Primary Reflections) |url=http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html |publisher=Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies (The fourth Nordic conference on Middle Eastern Studies: The Middle East in globalizing world Oslo, 13–16 August 1998) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008121436/http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html |archive-date=8 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shohat |first=Ella |title=Redrawing American Cartographies of Asia |url=http://commposite.uqam.ca/videaz/docs/elshen.html |publisher=City University of New York |access-date=12 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312062752/http://commposite.uqam.ca/videaz/docs/elshen.html |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}</ref>

The [[Associated Press]] Stylebook of 2004 says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous. It instructs:

<blockquote>Use ''Middle East'' unless ''Near East'' is used by a source in a story. ''Mideast'' is also acceptable, but ''Middle East'' is preferred.<ref>Goldstein, Norm. ''The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law''. New York: Basic Books, 2004. {{ISBN|0-465-00488-1}} p. 156</ref></blockquote>

===Translations===
European languages have adopted terms similar to ''Near East'' and ''Middle East''. Since these are based on a relative description, the meanings depend on the country and are generally different from the English terms. In [[German language|German]] the term ''[[:de:Naher Osten|Naher Osten]]'' (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term ''Mittlerer Osten'' is more and more common in press texts translated from English sources, albeit having a distinct meaning).

In the four Slavic languages, [[Russian language|Russian]] [[:ru:Ближний Восток|Ближний Восток]] or ''Blizhniy Vostok'', [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] [[:bg:Близък Изток|Близкия Изток]], [[Polish language|Polish]] ''[[:pl:Bliski Wschód|Bliski Wschód]]'' or [[Croatian language|Croatian]] ''[[:hr:Bliski istok|Bliski istok]]'' (terms meaning ''Near East'' are the only appropriate ones for the region).

However, some European languages do have "Middle East" equivalents, such as [[French language|French]] [[:fr:Moyen-Orient|Moyen-Orient]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]] [[:sv:Mellanöstern|Mellanöstern]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] [[:es:Oriente Medio|Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente]], [[Greek language|Greek]] is Μέση Ανατολή (''Mesi Anatoli''), and [[Italian language|Italian]] [[:it:Medio Oriente|Medio Oriente]].<ref group="note">In Italian, the expression "Vicino Oriente" (Near East) was widely used to refer to Turkey, and ''Estremo Oriente'' (Far East or Extreme East) to refer to all of Asia east of Middle East</ref>

Perhaps because of the political influence of the United States and Europe, and the prominence of Western press, the Arabic equivalent of ''Middle East'' (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط ''ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ'') has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press. It comprises the same meaning as the term "Middle East" in North American and Western European usage. The designation, ''[[Mashriq]]'', also from the Arabic root for ''East'', also denotes a variously defined region around the [[Levant]], the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the ''[[Maghreb]]'', the western part).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Anderson, Ewan W. |author2=William Bayne Fisher |title=The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |pages=12–13}}</ref> Even though the term originated in the West, countries of the Middle East that use languages other than Arabic also use that term in translation. For instance, the [[Persian language|Persian]] equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه (''Khāvar-e miyāneh''), the Hebrew is המזרח התיכון (''hamizrach hatikhon''), and the Turkish is Orta Doğu.<ref>{{citation|title=The Middle East in Turkish|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-turkish/the-middle-east|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|access-date=16 February 2025}}</ref>