Near East

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The Near East in archeological and historical context.
Inhabitants of the Near East, late nineteenth century.

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other. The term originally applied to the Balkan states in Southeast Europe, but now it generally describes the countries of Southwest Asia between the Mediterranean and Iran, especially in historical contexts.[1]

The term as used by Western archaeologists, geographers, and historians refers to the region encompassing Anatolia (the Asian portion of modern Turkey), the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories), Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Transcaucasia (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). In modern political and journalistic contexts, this region is usually subsumed into the wider Middle East while the terms Near East or Southwest Asia are preferred in archaeological, geographic, historical and population genetic contexts.

Background

The term Near East came into use in the 1890s, when European powers were faced with two critical situations in the "east".[2] The Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 occurred in the Far East, while an Armenian Genocide and instability involving the Cretans and Macedonians were occurring in the Near East.[2] British archaeologist D.G. Hogarth published The Nearer East in 1902, which helped to define the term and its extent, including Albania, Montenegro, southern Serbia and Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, all the Ottoman lands, the entire Arabian Peninsula, and western parts of Iran.[2]

There is general agreement concerning the list of Near East countries in the current geo-political context, as can be seen from the scope of activity of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the U.S. Department of State[3] and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy[4]. Only Turkey's classification is ambiguous. While all North African countries are included, the South Caucasus countries (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan) are not part of the Near East in the modern context. USAID puts the South Caucasus countries in its Europe and Eurasia regional bureau.[5]

Country Bureau of Near East
Affairs[3]		 Washington Institute
for Near East Policy[4]
Egypt + +
Iran + +
Iraq + +
Israel + +
Jordan + +
Lebanon + +
North Africa + +
Oman +  ?
Palestinian Authority + +
Persian Gulf States + +
Saudi Arabia +  ?
Yemen +  ?
Turkey – +

Legend: + included; – not included; ? not listed explicitly, but may be part of the Persian Gulf grouping

See also

References

  1. ^ Near East, Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2003.
  2. ^ a b c Davidson, Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East?". Foreign Affairs 38: p. 665–675. 
  3. ^ a b Countries covered by the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State
  4. ^ a b Countries covered by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
  5. ^ South Caucasus countries in USAID classification
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