Middle East Notes and Comment: The Middle East Turns East

May 17, 2011

As the United States struggles to understand the paradigm shifts underway in the Middle East, one shift has received almost no attention, and it should.  After more than two centuries of the United States viewing the Middle East from the perspective of an Atlantic power, the United States increasingly views the region from the perspective of a Pacific power as well.  The shift has profound implications for the United States, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.