The Crossroads of Empire: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Construct of the Middle East, 1902–2012

This paper contributes to the theme “The United States and the Middle East: The End of the American Century?” by examining the relationship between U.S. foreign policy and the borders of the area called the ‘Middle East’ over the past century.  I argue that the Middle East is an ideational construct produced and maintained by geographical, ideological, and intellectual representations. Building upon Edward Said’s claim that, “The Orient was almost a European invention,” I contend that the ‘Middle East’ was a British-American creation based on shared interests and ideologies.  Its invention and adoption across the twentieth century and into the twenty-first reflected not only the imperial attitudes and interests of the United Kingdom and the United States, but the movement of hegemony and empire from London to Washington. 

Drawing on a combination of published and archival sources, I trace the etymology of the term ‘Middle East’ and its correlation to American foreign policy doctrines over the past century.  I demonstrate that a relationship existed between the region’s varying geographical boundaries and the associated justifications made by scholars, journalists, and policymakers.  I assert that these representations were ideologically driven and reflected American imperial attitudes.  Moreover, I argue that Washington’s military, political, and economic interests were reflected in the different geographic boundaries of the area called the Middle East over the past century.  Finally, I examine how the recent Arab revolutions and counterrevolutions served to contest and reify American notions of the ‘Middle East’.