Perspectives on Invasion in the Middle East

The Middle East is the birthplace of several civilizations that have greatly influenced the growth of human knowledge in various scientific, philosophical, and artistic fields (Black 2003). In addition, the Middle East is the cradle of the three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The term “Middle East” itself was conceived in 1902 for military purpose by Alfred Mahan, a flag officer in the United States Navy (Adelson 1995). The contemporary region of the Middle East is generally considered to consist of sixteen countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen (CIA World Factbook 2011).