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Where is the Middle East? The Definition and Classification

Problem of the Middle East as a Regional Subsystem in
International Relations

Article · January 2011

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 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

Where is the Middle East? The Definition and

Classification Problem of the Middle East as
a Regional Subsystem in International
Relations

Osman Nuri Özalp

Kırklareli University, [email protected]

Abstract
This article examines the content of the Middle East term in terms of international relations.
The term of East which goes back to ancient times, has been used to describe the rest, outside of
Europe in cultural expressions instead of a geographical region to portray opposite world for cen-
turies. Since the Crusades, East (Orient) was identified with Islam and West (Occident) became
identical with Christianity, based on two different belief systems. We can say that East and West
mean thoughts, not geographical borders in this context. The emergence of different terms related
to the East like Near East, Middle East and Far East were Eurocentric and they cannot be consid-
ered without taking Western imperialism into account in 19th century. A modern political term,
the Middle East has entered into the literature of international relations and has also been adopt-
ed by countries in the region. With the end of the Cold War and especially after September 11, new
political thematic terms like the Greater Middle East, the Broader Middle East and Islamic Middle
East has entered into the daily terminology. The content of new definitions developed by the US
in the context of democratization of the Islamic world closely concerns Turkey which has a model
country characteristic in the region.

Keywords
Orient, Near East, Middle East, Greater Middle East, Broader Middle East, Islamic Middle
East, The Middle East as a Regional Subsystem.

5
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

Introduction fect on the mental designs of the modern

times.1 The East was initially comprised of
About forty five years ago, Pearcy had Egypt in ancient Greece at the geographi-
provocatively asserted that the Middle East cal sense. The fall of New Assyrian Kingdom
is indeed an unidentified region (Pearcy (B.C. 911–610), then establishment of the
1964, 1-12). Actually, we see that very dif- Greater Persian Empire (the Achaemenid 
ferent kinds of ambiguous definitions about Dynasty, B.C. 550–330) and Persian domi-
the region are used in the Western languag- nance in Anatolia have left profound scars
es. Especially in recent years, terms like the on the Greek literature and thought.
Greater Middle East, the Broader Middle
East and Islamic Middle East which are often The wars between the Persians and the
used in the scientific literature and media Ancient Greeks in this period make up the
make the response to the question, where source of mind imaginations related to two
borders of the region are exactly, more im- different geographies that has effect to the
portant than ever. If that is so, could not present days. Specifics of the Persians are
the region be properly defined? Where is the characterized by despotism in “the Persians”
Middle East? Where its geographic bounda- 2
(B.C. 524–456) a drama theatre of the an-
ries start and end? cient Greek writer Aeschylus3 (Bichler, 2007:
478). In this way, the Asia as a geographi-
In this article, the questions of where is cal area has become the symbol of tyranny
the Middle East and what is the Middle East and barbarism. Although in the book of
will be discussed in the context of interna- Aeschylus, Asia is not shown as anti-polar
tional relations. However, the geographic of Europe, but this point of view has influ-
definition of the Middle East is impossible enced subsequent writers. Aeschylus is also
when we considered the fact that the term the first writer mentioning about the Arabs
has been used as an opposition to the West in the ancient World in his studies (Schlicht
intellectually since ancient Greece. Over 2008, 12).
time, the term historically, culturally, reli-
giously, geographically, politically and eco- Later on, we see the influence of Aeschy-
nomically became more complex. lus in the book of the Histories of Herodotus
from Halicarnassus who is considered to be
In order to better understand the re- the father of historians. (B.C. 490-425). “The
gion, the concept of sub-regional system history starts with a preface on a legendary
in the international relations developed by beginning of animosity between Europeans
Bassam Tibi for the Middle East will be used. and Asians” (Irwin, 2008: 18). So much so
However, we need to look briefly at how the
terminology was formed from prehistoric
times to the present for better understand- 1
For further information look at Reinhold Bich-
ler, “Der ‘Orient’ im Wechselspiel von Imagination und
ing of relevant approaches to the Middle
Erfahrung: Zum Typus der ‘orientalischen Despotie’,
East. Getrennte Wege? Kommunikation, Raum und Wahr-
nehmungen in der Alten Welt, Ed. Robert Rottinger,
Andreas Luther, Josef Wiesehöfer, Verlag Antike,
Where is the East? Frankfurt, 2007 p. 475.
2
The work named Persians of Aeschylus carries
We see the perceptions and the defini- the feature of the oldest drama from the ancient world
tions related to the East in the ancient works to the present. It was firstly played in Athens at B.C
for the first time where these had direct ef- 472.
3
Latin Aischylos or Aeschylus

6
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

that Herodotus makes separation between the Crusades in the Medieval Europe. Thus,
Hellenes and Barbarians at the very begin- there was laid the foundations of a relation-
ning of his second sentence (Herodotos ship between the Christian West (Occident)
2009, 5). He explicitly mentions on Eu- and the Islamic East (Orient) in context of
rope and Asia where the Greeks’ country is two different belief systems.
identified between Europe and Asia.4 While
Herodotus congratulates the conqueror The term of Orient was generally used
Greeks against the Persians, he positions in Europe for identifying a wide range re-
Hellenes, Europeans against the Barbarians. gion including Arabic-speaking countries,
This viewpoint then became a symbol of op- Turkey, Iran, India and even China till nine-
position between two different civilizations: teenth century.
Europe and Asia. When we look at the works Over time, many different definitions
of authors like Aeschylus, Euripides and have been used in Western languages at re-
Herodotus in the ancient world, we can say gional description.5 Krause who takes into
that anti-orient cliché (stereotyping) was
consideration of different definitions in
laid the foundations in the Greek literature.
different languages and in different times
In medieval Europe, the Romans used is stating that actually clear and systematic
the term of Oriens that takes its roots from classification of definitions related to the
a Latin word “sol oriens” that means sunrise Middle East is not possible (Krause, 1993:
for defining the area. Then, they implied 4). However if there is something common
Eastern half that is the Byzantine (395- to these different definitions, it is also the
1453) of the Roman Empire (Pflitsch 2003, point of view of European perspective. Be-
11) (Jedlitschka, 2004: 22). Once again in cause, when it is only looked from Europe
this period, the term was also used for the then the East becomes Near, Middle or Far.
east of Jerusalem which was named as the More precisely, it is necessary to look at the
Holy Land with its broadest sense in the history of imperialism in order to under-
context of the tradition of the Holy Bible. stand the term of the Middle East in the
modern sense (Tibi 1989, 55).
In the middle ages, at the end of 11th
century with the start of Crusades world- Race to capture and share the Middle
view of the Europe that was almost un- East was begun between the European great
changed since the ancient times began to powers after Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign
widen (Jankrift, 2007, 12). Inter-cultural (1798-1801). In terms of regional geopoli-
knowledge and property transfer developed tics, the region was seen as a whole by the
through the Crusades. For the first time, Eu- Europe. Such that, the partial problems of
ropeans again began to regain rich heritage the region cannot independently be ad-
the ancient world thanks to this encounter. dressed since that time because it has been
Arabic works of Aristotle were translated integrated into the world politics as a whole
into Latin which began to reshape Western (Jedlitschka 2004, 22). The situation still re-
thought. Islam became one of the most mains valid.
important characteristic of the East with
5
For instance in German Morgenland, Levante,
4
In ancient world, the Greeks were naming the Fruchtbarer Halbmond, Vorderasien, Vorderer Orient,
northern area of Peloponnese which we name Balkans Naher Osten, Mittlerer Osten; in French Proche Orient,
today as Europe. Centuries later, the term widened and Moyen Orient; in English Far East, Near East, Middle
started to be used for whole the continent. East.

7
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

By that time, either East or Orient used The Emergence of Modern

for whole Asia. The first distinction between Middle East as a Political Term
Asia and Europe has emerged in nineteenth
century, no longer than the Europeans have As stated above, we see the usage of the
used the term of the Far East for China, Ja- terms of Near East and Far East to define
pan, Malaysia and Indonesia.  This distinc- whole the East in the terminology until the
tion  has prevailed until the end of nine- end of 19th century. However, in September
teenth century. Now, the East for the Europe 1902 A. Th. Mahan, an American naval his-
was starting at the borders of the Ottoman torian, has published an article called ‘’The
Empire. Persian Gulf and International Relations’’
in the British National Review magazine
While the Ottoman Empire as ‘’sick man where for the first time he used the phrase
of the Bosporus” was at the brink of collapse of the Middle East for the Gulf of Aden and
period, in the 19th century, sharing the ter- India (Davison 1963, 17). According to the
ritory of the Empire turned into a conflict concept of Mahan, the Middle East was the
due to the different national interests of the region between the Suez and Singapore.
European powers. Who would take of which
area of the Ottoman Empire that was in the Two months later after Mahan’s article,
decline period. This conflict that can be very Valentin Chirol a reporter of the British
shortly summarized was called the Eastern Times newspaper began to publish a series
Question in the Europe (Brown 1984, 87- of articles titled “the Middle East Question”
138). (Davison 1963, 17).  Thus, term of the Mid-
dle East centered by India was settled in the
Almost all political definitions relevant international literature after the publication
to the Middle East and foundation of a large of Mahan and Chirol.
portion of the political boundary changes
is based on the sovereignty and beginning To sum up briefly in light of the above
of establishment of spheres of influence by developments, we see settlement of three
the British, French, Russians and Germans different terms to describe the East until
in this region at the end of 19th century and  the end of First World War that are the Near
first half century of the 20th century (Ehlers East, the Middle East and the Far East. Each
1990, 10). In this context, a change in ter- term was used to define a particular region
minology took place in 1890 where the term and as meaning the Near East was including
of the Near East has been used for the first Turkey, the Middle East was including India
time. The Near East term was rather used to and the Far East was including China (Davi-
describe the Southeastern Europe includ- son 1963, 17).
ing the Balkan region.  The region was East
because of being still a part of the Ottoman The Ottoman Empire allied with Ger-
Empire whereas it was near because being many against France and British in order to
the Christian European, however it was also prevent the collapse in the World War I. This
still the East because of remaining under led the escalation of competition between
the sovereignty of an Eastern state of the European states who were working to gain
Ottoman Empire (Lewis 1968, 10). influence over the Ottoman Empire. France
and Britain started to support the Arabs
against the Ottoman Empire. At the same
time they signed secretly the Sykes-Picot

8
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

Treaty (1916) on how to share the Arab with the Middle East Command covering the
lands that were still under the Ottoman Rule area especially of the British domain from
(Klaff 1993, 50). Malta to Iran and Syria, from there to Ethio-
pia (Davison 1963, 20). The term was settled
According to the secret plan, and later in a robust manner in the international re-
by the San Remo Conference (1920), Syria lations literature, especially after the war,
and Lebanon were left to the French; Pales- while the Near East term has begun to lose
tine, Iraq and Trans-Jordan were left to the importance and content in the face of inten-
British administration.  6 There was need on sive use of the Middle East term. The Mid-
the change of the definitions and contents dle East term has become a single phrase in
related to the Middle East in the light of the political language for defining the region
these historical developments. Indeed, ac- in the English-speaking countries. The term
cording to the British point of view, Win- with its English meaning firmly settled in
ston Churchill was determining the context everyday language where even the countries
of the Middle East term as of a region from of the region have adopted it.7
Bosporus to the western borders of India
in March 1, 1921 with the contributions of
the Royal Geographical Society. Until then, Delimitation Problem of the
India was now outside of the new definition Middle East
where it was remaining in the Middle East
term before. In this way, the Middle East Despite the settlement of the Middle
term started to cover the geographical area East term in the international literature,
where the Near East was meant before (Da- there is not common agreement on the ex-
vison 1963, 19). tension of the geographical areas and the
Middle East countries (Johannsen 2006,
The Middle East Term During 11). So where does the Middle East exactly
place?
the Cold War
Boundaries of the Middle East are de-
The structure of the region has begun to
termined with very different forms because
change in parallel with the structural chang-
of different interests, criteria and scientific
es of great powers as globally after the Sec-
disciplines. In a broad meaning, we can state
ond World War. The British were weakened
that the Middle East covers a region from
at the end of the war which has made the
Ethiopia in the south, Turkey in the north,
boundaries of the region even more uncer-
Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east to Mo-
tain. Pax Americana was now substituted in
rocco in the west.  There are very different
the region instead of Pax Britannica where
criteria and approaches to determine the
the Middle East region became more strate-
boundaries of the Middle East in this wide
gic for its energy resources before the Amer-
geographic area.  We will try to show how
ica (Tibi 1989,56).
complex the topic in the scientific literature
The Middle East term in during the Sec- by providing particular titles of different
ond World War has become more popular views in this study.

6
During Sykes-Picot process competition between
British-French and Arab Policy see: Brown, Interna- 7
Turkish: Ortadoğu, Arabic: al-sharq al-awsat,
tional Politics and, p. 117. Persian: Khavarmiyaneh, Hebrew: ha Mizrach ha Tichon

9
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

When we look at the writers who take ten while he divides the region in two main
into account the geographic criteria related sections as North Africa Wing and South-
to determination of the boundaries of the east Asia Wing (Steinbach, 1988, 16).
Middle East we again see different approach-
es. For example, the Middle East is the re- The area of the Middle East is defined
gion between the Black Sea, Mediterranean, between Morocco and Afghanistan by an
Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and the Caspian Sea American Hurewitz (Hurewitz 1969, 3).  On
according to Tunçdilek (Tunçdilek 1971, 3). the other hand, Brown who is one of the
experts living today sees the Middle East as
Swiss geographer Boesch uses the term the fields where the former Ottoman Empire
of Mittlerer Osten in German for the Middle has possessed (Brown 1984, 7-11). Because,
East and himself sees the boundaries of the today’s Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon,
region as the geographic area between the Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq and the Arabian
Levant coast and its hinterland, the plains Peninsula of the Middle East and of course
of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the North the Republic of Turkey were under the rule
Arabian Desert areas and the Arabian Gulf of the Ottoman Empire since nineteenth
(Ehlers 1990,12). century according to Brown. We can say that
the Middle East region covers areas other
The area between Morocco and Afghani- than those belonging to the Ottoman geog-
stan, the Middle East as an American Hure- raphy except Iran and Morocco according to
witz is defined. Brown is one of the experts the definition in this context.
who live today against this important region
of the former Ottoman Empire in the Mid- Hudson sees the Middle East as a whole
dle East sees as its fields.  , Because today’s consisting of three partial systems: the Arab
Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Egypt, Syr- East (Mashreq), the North Africa (Maghreb)
ia, Palestine, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf Region (Khaleej) (Hudson
belonging to the Middle East and of course 1976, 483).
the Republic of Turkey were altogether un-
der the rule of the Ottoman Empire in 19th Tibi, who is considered to be the region’s
century according to Brown. This is content foremost experts, divides the Middle East to
to describe the Middle East region, Iran, Mo- three sub-regions like Hudson, but he holds
rocco and covers areas other than those be- the countries of this sub-system as the cen-
longing to the Ottoman geography can say. tric and edge countries (Tibi 1989,73).

At the work of Politisches Lexikon Na-

host issued by Steinbach/Hofmayer/Schön-
born the region is defined as the area be-
tween Morocco in the west and Pakistan in
the east. (Steinbach, 1979) Then, at the same
way, the region is confirmed as the area be-
tween Maghreb region in the West and Pa-
kistan in the east at the two volume study
Handbuch des Nahen und Mittleren Ostens
issued by Steinbach/Robert (Steinbach,
1988, 16). According to Steinbach, he uses
both the terms of Naher und Mittlerer Os-

10
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

The Middle East and its Parts as Sub-System According to Tibi

The Arab East (Mashreq) The Gulf Region (Khaleej) The Arab West (Maghreb)
Centric Countries Edge Coutries Centric Countries Edge Coutries Centric Countries Edge Coutries
Egypt Turkey Iraq Bahrein Algeria Tunisia
Israel Cyprus Iran Qatar Morocco Mauritania
Syria Sudan S. Arabia U.A.E. Libya
Jordan N. Yemen Kuwait Umman
Lebanon S. Yemen

Source: Tibi, Konfliktregion Naher Osten, p. 76.

According to Tibi, inclusion of a state to have been changed. We will deal with the de-
the region depends on whether the interest- scriptive approaches relevant to the Middle
ed state is integrated into the sub-system. East in the context of new developments in
the international relations.
In general, approaches of ​​defining the
area and limiting criteria at the scientific lit- After the collapse of the Soviet Union
erature in the period until the end of the Cold the countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
War had been like explained above. Howev- Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and
er, major changes in international relations Tajikistan which had Muslim majority popu-
after the collapse of the Soviet Union and af- lation and had the Islamic cultural tradition
ter independence of the Central Asian coun- in the Central Asia and the Caucasus gained
tries have radically changed the terminology their independence.  According to some au-
related to the Middle East. thors, these countries that are still in the
process of multi-faceted transformation
have caused the formation of a new large
Collapse of the Soviet Union and region in cultural and political meaning due
its Effect on the Middle East to their Islamic identities. For example, ac-
Terminology cording to Lewis, these countries which are
part of the Middle East in cultural, ethnic,
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, a linguistic and religious meaning in the past
major process of change took place in inter- have again provided the formation of this
national relations and all geographic areas of historic dimension after their independ-
the world such as the Middle East were also ence: “This formation of new Middle East
deeply affected.8 So much so, that all the def- is truly one of the most important develop-
initions and limitations of the Middle East ments for the old Middle East.” according to
him (Lewis 1992, 103).
8
Effect of end of Cold War to the Middle East see:
Heinz-Dieter Winter, “Vom Kriesenbogen zur stabilen Trautner one of the authors sharing this
Friedensordnung?”, WeltTrends, No 16, 1997, pp. point of view no more proposes the term of
95–112; Helmut Hubel, Das Ende Kalten Krieges im the Islamic Orient (islamischer Orient)  for
Orient. Die USA die Sowjetunion und die Konflikte in
the region (Trautner 1997, 9). Because, Is-
Afghanistan, am Golf und im Nahen Osten (1979–
1991), Oldenbourg, München, pp. 246–255. lamic culture is dominant in the geography

11
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

that starts from Western-Sahara countries cal changes in 1990s (Schmid 1993, 26). the
to Tajikistan albeit in different forms.  In Central Asia, Mashreq, the Gulf Region and
this context, Lindholm has also chosen the Maghreb.
term of the Islamic Middle East (Lindholm,
2004, 29). Pawelka stresses that the boundaries of
the region had a dynamic structure and the
Pfetsch who is a  conflict  expert in  in- Islamic  character  in the historical process
ternational relations  uses  the term of the and states that its borders extens from the
Arab-Islamic World (arabisch-islamis- Atlantic  coast of  Africa  to the  Altai  Moun-
che  Welt)  which has almost same  mean- tains in the Central Asia after collapse of the
ing with taking into account the cultural fa- Soviet  Union (Pawelka and Wehling 1999,
miliarity to the region (Pfetsch 1991,7). 7).

Büttner/Scholz have  stated that the

borders of the Middle East expanded to in- The Developments Related to
clude the Central Asia as a result of the new the Term of the Middle East 
political  developments formed after  the
collapse of  the  Soviet  Union; have used After September 11, 2001
the term of the Islamic- Oriental -World or September 11, 2001  terrorist  at-
the  Islamic- Oriental-Region for the geo- tacks  profoundly  affected  the interna-
graphical  region  from Mauritania  to the tional  system, such as  they almost  radical-
Central Asia (Büttner and Schulz, 1993, 16). ly changed the terms and scope of the debate
In addition,  Büttner/Schulz have ex- related to the Middle East.9 Immediately
pressed that identifications stemmed from after the terrorist attacks the terms like
historical, political or media requirements the  Greater  Middle  East,  the Broader  Mid-
for the region today in fact make the both dle East or the Islamic Greater Middle East
inner and outer decomposition difficult entered into  the literature of the interna-
and they advocated the identification of the tional relations.
Middle East  as the    a  sub-system (Büttner On the identification  and  the scope
and Scholz, 1993, 42).  Because  the  geo- in  19th  and  20th century  and today at the
graphical  region  from Mauritania  to Af- beginning of  21st  century  the  terminology
ghanistan  has  a common  conflict structure on the  Middle East  is determined by  the
in terms of international relations. great powers (Ehrhardt and Johannsen,
Gantzel/Schwinghammer  have ex- 2005, 11). Today, the boundaries of the Mid-
pressed the expansion of the region includ- dle East, the countries of the Middle East are
ing the Caucasus and the Central Asia after solely determined by the only global super-
the disintegration of  the Soviet Union and power USA. At the same time, America has
saw Georgia in the Middle East unlike oth- the power to set such political terminology.
er  writers (Gantzel and Schwinghammer, American  political  scien-
1995, 39). tist Harkavy wrote, for the first time, an arti-
Meanwhile, Schmid  separates  the
whole  region into four  sub-regions by 9
For new geopolitical situation of the Middle East
taking into account of the  different  geo- after September 11 look at: Sigrid Faath (Hrsg.), Neue
geopolitische Konstellationen im Nahen Osten nach
graphical  conflict areas due to  the politi- dem 11. September 2001, DÜI, Hamburg, 2003.

12
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

cle about the concept of “the Greater Middle After publication of the Greater Middle

East” in the light of  geopolitical develop- East  Project, both the Arab  world  and  the
ments (Harkavy, 2001,37-53). (Harkavy and European Union sharply criticized it. In par-
Kemp 1997)   Later on,  strategists  like ticular,  the EU announced its first concept
Ronald  D.  Asmus  and  Kenneth  M. Pollack under the title of “The Strategic Partner-
who took office in Bill Clinton Adminis- ship of the European Union with the Medi-
tration have developed  the idea of  ​​demo- terranean and the Middle East” on March 22,
cratic  transformation of the Great  Middle 2004 as an alternative to the Greater Middle
East. Indeed they published their views as a East Project.11 In this context, the concept of
new transatlantic project at the fall of 2002 the Greater  Middle  East  Initiative  (GMEI)
(Pollack and Assmus, 2003). To summa- was accepted with its new shape, the Broad-
rize,  America  should  take  initiative for the er Middle  East  Initiative  (BMEI)  after  in-
political transformation of the Great Middle tensive  discussions  and interviews at the
East  for  a long  period according to  Asmus G-8 Summit held in the Sea Island on June
and Pollack. 9, 2004.12 The difference of the concept of
the Broader Middle East from the Greater
The Neo-cons  who were influential  in Middle East is the expansion to encom-
George W. Bush  Administration  advo- pass the Gulf countries and the North Afri-
cated  a new and radical fresh start  on can countries.
the  democratization of  the Middle East.  In
this  context,  President  Bush  began  to ex- In general,  the West targets the start
press  his  project named “the Greater  Mid- and the support of political and economic
dle  East  Initiative”  (GMEI)  at every oppor- reform processes in the majority of the Is-
tunity towards the end of 2003. The project lamic Countries; to create a common struc-
was intended to establish democracies in the ture based on long-term stability, prosperity
entire Islamic world (Schoch, 2005: 30-48). and democracy by means of these projects.
Of course what is missing in these projects,
Model concept of the project was embod- selected by the West as a vision, is the lack
ied at the G-8  Summit held in  Sea  Island, of strategy on how to achieve this goal.13 On
Georgia; then its content was published for
the first time in  Al-Hayat  English  Newspa-
per based in London.10 The geography which 11
For the concept of the EU see: Muriel Asseburg,
was  described as  the Greater Middle East “Demokratieförderung in der arabischen Welt – hat
der partnerschaftliche Ansatz der Europäer versagt?”,
in the Project comprised the Arab League
Orient, No 2, 2005, pp. 272–290.
countries, Israel,  Iran,  Turkey,  Afghani- 12
US Department of State: Partneship for
stan and Pakistan. The Central Asian coun- Progress and a Commen Future with the Region of
tries was not included in the project, because the Broader Middle East and North Africa. Fact Sheet,
The White Hause Office of the Press Secretary, June
these countries were already acting with the
9, 2004.
United States in her joint fight against ter- 13
On the transformation process towards the
rorism within the scope of policy and the US Middle East, approach differences between USA
began to deploy military bases in their terri- and Europe see: Elmar Janssen, Stabilität in Na-
host? Transformationsansätze von USA und EU und
tories after the September 11.
strukturelle Hindernisse einer Friedensordnung,
m-ress, München, 2005; Martin Beck, “Von der
Spannung über die Krise zur Gemeinsamkeit? Zu den
10
The concept was published at al Hayat Newspa- auβenpolitischen Ansätzen und Perspektiven der USA
per on 13.02.2005 as Working Paper “G8 Greater Middle und der EU gegenüber dem Nahen Osten”, Ehrhart/Jo-
East Partnership”. hannsen, Herausforderung Mittelost: Übernimmt sich

13
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

the subject of democratization of the Islamic Middle  East  as  a  Subordinate  Interna-
World which could be a subject of separate tional  System” (Binder, 1958: 408-429).  in
study, there is sharp disagreement be- 1958 where, for the first time, he expressed
tween the U.S. and the EU in terms of meth- that there are   regional  differences  in
od. This also reduces the chance of success of the  international  system and regional sub-
all the projects for the region. systems  constitute a totality within them-
selves. After this study of Binder many po-
While the term  of the Broader Middle litical scientists  have developed  different
East has been accepted in Istanbul on 28, concepts of regional sub-systems in the in-
29 June 2004 at NATO Summit, the term ternational relations. However, there is also
of the Greater Middle East has more com- not a common view among them.
monly been used at the scientific literature
and public opinion. Today  in  our country, Binder’s concept was developed by Mid-
Turkey, even  the  definition of  the Greater dle East expert  Bassam  Tibi a Syrian-Ger-
Middle East  is  adopted as a term in every man  born  political scientist  at the end  of
day usage.  For this reason,  therefore the 80’s (Tibi, 1989).  According to Tibi,  on the
term of the Greater Middle East will be pre- one hand regional  sub-systems  keep their
ferred as a definition.  However,  the issue own dynamics, on the other hand they are
of what countries are covered by the Great- also  structurally integrated with the  inter-
er Middle East,  again,  is not  clear as we national system  through  the reciprocal in-
saw  in previous  definitions.  Though, from teraction.  In short,  it  can be classified  un-
new term it is easily understood that the der  the global system.  According to Tibi,
boundaries of the region have more extend- a  connection  (linkage)  with the local, re-
ed content. But the  subjects of  what  coun- gional and international conflict areas was
tries  enter  into  this  term, however, differ formed in the region until around 1989/90s
according to  the intention of those who (Tibi 1989, 46). As we mentioned earli-
use  the term.  In short,  America has politi- er, Tibi sees the Middle East as a sub-region
cally re-defined and expanded the bounda- of the international system  and classifies
ries of the region with the  Greater Middle this sub-region into three partial areas con-
East Project after September 11. sisting of central and edge countries which
are the Mashreq,  the Maghreb and the Gulf
Can Turkey and the Central Asia Region.
be Included in the Middle
East Regional Sub-system? However, the international system has
been radically altered after the concept de-
The  theories of  regional  sub-systems veloped by Tibi in 1989.  After the collapse
in  the international  relations  have entered of the Soviet Union bipolar order was disap-
into the literature as of the end of 50s. Amer- peared and the Cold War was ended.  After
ican  political  scientist  and  Middle East  ex- these changes that opened a new era in the
pert Leonard  Binder  wrote  an article “The international system, how we can answer
the following questions in the context of
Tibi’s concept?
der Westen?, ss. 164–180.; Isabel Shäfer, “Die “Strat-
egische Partnerschaft der EU mit dem Mittelmeerraum
und dem Nahen Osten” – eine europäische Alternative
• Can regional sub-systems still be placed
zur “Broader Middle East Initiative?”, Ehrhart/Jo- in the international system?
hannsen, Herausforderung Mittelost: Übernimmt sich
der Westen? pp. 128–148. • Can Turkey be included in the Middle

14
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

East regional sub-system? ent policies held by the United States and
the EU which adopt different methods for
• Can the Central Asian countries that the political transformation, in fact, under-
gained independence after disintegration mines the stability of the region. That’s way,
of the Soviet Union be evaluated in this sys- a transatlantic co-operation for the success-
tem? ful transformation of the region is impor-
tant not only for the Middle East but also
In our opinion the Middle East con-
for the international relations.
tinuous to be the regional sub-system even
having a higher degree of autonomy after
1989.  According to Krause after the fall of
Inclusion of Turkey into the
the Soviet Union the developments consoli-
dated the Middle East in the political and System
historical sense so that the region which was As discussed above, Tibi has classified
once defined under the name of the Orient Turkey as edge country under the name
as a cultural geography has turned into the of the Arab East (Mashreq) in his study in
same structure again (Krause 1993, 9). For 1989.  However, many writers indicate that
this reason, borders of the region have be- Turkey became centric country especially
gun to be broadly defined due to its Islamic after the Gulf War and subsequent develop-
character. Indeed, most characteristic fea- ments (Trautner 1992, 33; Robins 1992, 85).
ture of the geographic region that extends
from the West Sahara up to Tajikistan is When the recent political developments
to have social structure of Islamic culture are considered, Turkey can be put in the
despite economic and political differences Middle East as a regional sub-system in the
(Trautner 1997, 9). international relations. The following fac-
tors can be listed for Turkey to become a
Today, the Middle East region still holds centric country in the Middle East and an
important position in the world politics. active regional player:
However, non-regional Powers - the United
States and the EU - want to transform po- • To play an active role in the Second Gulf
litical systems to establish a peaceful order War
in the long term for the Middle East region
that is among the world’s most full of con- • The Kurdish issue gained an international
flict regions. In this context, the Greater dimension
Middle East project of the Americans that is
• Importance of water shortage, Turkey has
mentioned in the previous section, aims at
the river sources of Tigris and Euphrates
the reconstruction of a democratic political
structures in the region. However, as Ameri- • America’s support to Turkey as a model
cans want to realize it in radical methods, country for the Muslim states in the frame-
Europeans rather advocates stable and grad- work of the Greater Middle East Project
ual manner to support this process.14 Differ-
Turkey has been praised as a model for
the Central Asian countries after the col-
14
Democracy Promotion of USA and Europe in
the Middle East and its details see: Sabine Giesendorf,
lapse of the Soviet Union and then for this
Politische Konditionalität der EU – eine erfolgreiche purpose Turkey had made extensive eco-
Demokratieförderungsstrategie? Nomos, Baden nomic, political, cultural and diplomatic ini-
Baden, 2009, pp. 43–77.

15
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

tiatives. In 90s, especially America support- mocracy and Islam together has paramount
ed Turkey both geo-strategically to avoid the importance for the West.
influence of Iran in the Central Asia as well
as to be a model country in the Central Asia. Turkey with her modern Muslim cultural
identity, democratic and economically suc-
Turkey’s regional importance grew even cesses, having the EU standards will play
further especially after September 11.  This an important role as a model country in the
time, Americans began to support Turkey Middle East, the Caucasus and the Central
which has an Islamic socio-cultural struc- Asia; it can also be an effective model of the
ture and also successfully operates a demo- policies that encourage stability in the con-
cratic political system together as a model cerned regions. Turkey with these charac-
country in the whole Islamic world with the teristics is an pivotal country in the Middle
Greater Middle East Project. Turkey was the East for the America and the EU in the inter-
best model country for the entire Islamic national relations.
world especially for the effective Neocons
in Bush Administration. America continues AKP government in Turkey has become
to support Turkey as a democratic model in an important regional player in the Middle
the Islamic world in the framework of the East  due to the features stated above. Tur-
Greater Middle East Project after September key can be included in the Middle East re-
11 until now as it was in 90s for the Central gional sub-system because of all these devel-
Asia. In this context, Turkey’s EU member- opments of late years.
ship process was supported particularly by
the American authorities.15  Because Tur- Inclusion of the Central Asia
key would have become a guide and model
country in the Middle East with the rise of Newly independent Central Asian coun-
democratic standards thanks to the Euro- tries after the collapse of the Soviet Union
pean Union. have also brought a new term debates on the
agenda in the context of the Middle East.
The role and the pressure of the United The Central Asia and Caucasus were part of
States played for Turkey to gain the status the Orient on cultural, ethnic, linguistic and
of EU candidate should be seen as a decision religious aspects of historical sense in the
having strategic importance in the context past (Fragner and Kappeler 2006; Strasser
of long-term transformation of the Middle 2002).  For example, the Central Asia was a
East (Janssen 2005, 136).  America’s policy centric region of the Islamic Civilization not
towards Turkey can also be seen as a part of the edge one in the Middle Ages. So much so
regionally and globally oriented policy. Tur- that al-Farabi, al-Bukhari, al-Biruni, Avicen-
key also plays an important role for the EU na, al-Maturidi, Ali Qushji and such many
in the region in this context.  Even though important personalities of the Islamic world
the U.S and the EU have differences of opin- were emerged in the Central Asia.
ion on some issues towards the Middle East;
a successful Turkey which is carrying out de- With the independence and separation
of the Central Asian Republics from the So-
15
Support of EU membership of Turkey from viet Union, the Islamic world has again at-
American perspective see Carsten Hanke, “Die Beitritt-
tained its old historical geographical spread
sperspektive der Türkei zur Europäischen Union aus
der Sicht der USA”, Kölner Arbeitspapiere zur interna- in cultural meaning. After independence,
tionalen Politik, No 43, 2006. the relations of the Central Asian countries

16
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

with the other Islamic countries began in all vided opportunity to these students to
areas. Considering these developments, the meet and interact with the different Islamic
issue of whether the Middle East regional movements.
sub-system includes the Caucasus and the
Central Asia according to the concept of Tibi Robins argues that the borders of the
can be discussed (Krause 1993, 3). Middle East can be expanded including the
Central Asia because of four criteria: the
According to the concept Tibi, the re- state system, culture, religion and language
gional sub-systems are not only geographic (Robins 1994, 55-74). Robins also states
areas, but are also the systems where there that both the regions have common histori-
are structural relations and mutual interac- cal, cultural and political heritage.
tion processes in specific forms. This mutual
State system in the Middle East was
interaction processes can take place within
formed after the collapse of the Ottoman
the framework of factors pertaining to the
Empire in 19th century. There is no histori-
linguistic, ethnic, socio-economic and cul-
cal root of today’s state borders in the region
tural.
because the colonial powers have formed the
Considering the above factors in relation state structures or administrative districts
to the subject, we can say that there is the in parallel with full of their own interests.
vast majority of the population belonging
We see the presence of same process of
to the religion of Islam and a rising Islamic state establishment in the Central Asia. The
identity in the Central Asia. The ethnic rela- Caucasus and the Central Asia regions
tion with Turkey, the countries of the region were under the domination of Tsarist Rus-
(except Tajikistan) and relationship with the sia in 19th century.  After the 1917 October
other Islamic countries for having religious Revolution, Moscow began to establish
belonging show the effect of the Middle East new administrative units in Central Asia in
on the region. Indeed, all the Central Asian 1920s.  The new administrative boundaries
countries have become members of the Or- were decided as contrary to any of the his-
ganization of the Islamic Conference in the torical, ethnic, cultural and social structure
90s. of the region. According to this administra-
tive regulations Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
Three countries have launched the com-
(1924), Tajikistan (1929), Kazakhstan and
petition namely Saudi Arabia to spread Wah-
Kyrgyzstan (1936) were built as the Soviet
habi version of Islam, Iran with Shiite ver-
Republics. None of the states formed under
sion of Islam and Turkey with Sunni version
the borders nor names were present before
of Islam especially in the Caucasus and the
the October revolution.
Central Asia after the downfall of the Soviet
Union.  In this regard, Kuwait, United Arab Islamic culture is effective on the social
Emirates and Pakistan have made efforts in structure in the Central Asia as it is in the
the Islamic activities. Once again, there has Middle East.  Long-term stable political or-
been influx of students from the Central der would only be possible with the integra-
Asian countries to the universities in the Is- tion of the Islamic forces into the political
lamic world. For instance, Turkey itself gave system.  In general, we can say that Islam
the opportunity of scholarships to more increases its effect in the political life in the
than 10,000 Central Asian students. Study- region day by day. Moreover, the leaders of
ing in different Islamic countries also pro- the region benefit from the Islamic culture

17
TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

and symbols in the nation-building process. term has been used for all Eastern cultures.
The East is entirely an abstract idea of ​​the
In the framework of briefly explained West rather than being geographical.  This
issues above we can assert that the Central form of perception has influenced the po-
Asia and the Middle East have these follow- litical, religious and thought structure of the
ing similar structural characteristics: lack Europe for centuries.
of legitimacy of the state administrators,
weakness of the state, family, state and so- In political terminology, the origin of
cial structure forms, the relationship system different terms related to East is based on
depending on the person (the clan, tribe, the European imperialism at the end of
race, ethnic/religious/regional communi- 19th  century or at the beginning of 20th
ties, client and patronage relationships), century.  In this context, we see that the
the problem of Islam’s integration into the competition of sharing the territory of the
political system, strong regional, ethnic and Ottoman Empire in her collapse is called as
religious identities and informal structures. the Eastern Question in the field of interna-
tional relations.
The Central Asian countries moved to
the center of the international agenda with Spread of the Middle East term in the po-
the America’s entry into Afghanistan after litical literature took place after the Second
September 11. Countries of the region have World War. However, there is no consensus
extended their support to the United States on which geographical areas and countries
and NATO in the fight against terrorism. are covered by the region.
At the same time September 11 events also
attracted the attention of the existence of We see Tibi’s concept of regional sub-sys-
states in the form of weakness and collapse tem more descriptive on defining the Middle
in the international relations. Seizure of Af- East. According to the concept, on one hand
ghanistan by the militant Islamists exempli- the region has its own systemic characteris-
fies how the countries in form of poor state tics on the other hand it has integrated into
could be captured by the trans-national ter- the global world politics. The degree that the
rorist network. In this context, threats to countries belong to the regional sub-system
the regional stability occur not externally, are determined by political criteria, not his-
but rather occur from the erosions at the torical characteristics. These are; the struc-
internal structures of the Central Asia coun- tural linkages and density of interaction.
tries.  Many problems like religious, ethnic
No doubt that the international system
and regional identities which, awaits the
has undergone very big change after Tibi’s
solution, indicate that the region will be in
concept in 1989.  We see that the process
long term tension.
of regionalization and regional political
Due to the reasons briefly mentioned structures have gained weight in the inter-
above, we can include the Central Asian national system with the removal of bipolar
countries into the Middle East regional sub- structure in the world. Global conflicts have
system. left their place to regional conflicts. In this
context, the concept that Tibi developed for
Conclusion the Middle East still keeps its descriptive
feature.  When we look at the process from
When the term of Orient is examined end of the Cold War to the present, we can
in historical perspective, it is seen that this say that Turkey has become a centric coun-

18
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

try and integrated into the Middle East re- • Most of the definitions related to the Mid-
gional sub-system. dle East are the European-based and they
are defined with different content and dif-
The term of the Greater Middle East in- ferent times in the United Kingdom, France
troduced at the terminology in recent years and Germany.
can be considered as appropriate definition
when near period and current process of the • Most of the European-based definitions are
region are taken into consideration. The Au- shaped according to the interests of the im-
thor has, here, brought a new classification perialist point of view and of the great pow-
to the Greater Middle East as regional sub- ers.
system according to their conflict zones:
• Term of the Middle East is not primarily a
The Greater Middle East geographical definition, rather it is a mod-
ern political term.  It has, again, dynamic
1. Arab West (Maghreb), Egypt, Sudan, characteristics according to the changes in
Southern Sudan the world politics and changes in the region
(the Greater Middle East, the Broader Mid-
2. Arab East (Mashreq), Turkey, the Islamic
dle East and etc.)
Caucasus
The debate about the definition becomes
3. Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Somalia, Dji-
important in terms of both a better under-
bouti, Eritrea
standing of current political developments
4. The Gulf region in the geography of region including Turkey
and prediction of regional political perspec-
5. The Central Asia tives of the major powers towards near fu-
ture. At this point, it should be noted that
6. South Asia: Afpak16 (Afghanistan and Pa-
term of the Middle East contains not a geo-
kistan)
graphical restriction, but the political and
As a result, reasons for the lack of con- cultural identity. In parallel with the changes
sensus on the very different definition and in world politics and regional developments,
on the issue of boundaries at the scientific it is always likely to make new definitions re-
literature related to the Middle East can be lated to the Middle East.
summarized as following:

• Different official agencies of different coun-

tries define different definitions and border
for the Middle East.

• Different branches of science use different

definitions for the Middle East.

• Definition of the Middle East can be done

in various ways because of different inter-
ests.

16
Afpak term is for the first time used by Richard
Holbrook special representative of US President Barack
Obama to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

19
 TJP Turkish Journal of Politics Vol. 2 No. 2 Winter 2011

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