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Why is it called 'Middle East'? The 1902 origins and the shift to 'West Asia'
The 1902 naval secret: Why is it called the 'Middle East'? The origins and the shift to 'West Asia'
Discover the 1902 origin of the term "Middle East" coined by Alfred Thayer Mahan. Learn why India uses "West Asia," how WWII expanded the label, and why the world is moving toward geographic sovereignty.
The world is familiar with the term "Middle East" and its use in daily headlines. Yet the origins of this name date back to a bygone era. While the world considers the region to be at the core of international affairs and geopolitics, the name itself was born out of a 19th-century American naval officer's strategic view from the British Empire. The name itself was given life in 1902 by a renowned American naval strategist.
The name was given life by Alfred Thayer Mahan in an article he penned for a British publication. The article was penned by Mahan as he sought a means to describe a region that played a critical role in naval affairs and was located between India and the Persian Gulf.
The world was mapped by Mahan and others in a Eurocentric view that defined the world by how distant a place was from London.
The Near East: Referenced the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire.
The Far East: Referenced East Asian countries such as China and Japan.
The Middle East: Referenced the strategic middle ground that the British Navy had to traverse in order to get to its Jewel in the Crown, India.
While the world refers to the region as the 'Middle East,' India has long taken a different view. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, gave life to the name 'West Asia.'
According to the Middle East Institute (MEI), this is a "deliberate act of post-colonial sovereignty." By referring to the region as "West Asia," India:
Decenters London: Places the region accurately on the Asian continent rather than measuring it by its distance from the UK.
Fosters solidarity: Views the region through a lens of Asian identity rather than British military strategy.
The definition of the Middle East expanded massively in 1939. The British established the "Middle East Command" in Cairo during World War II. This military center controlled a huge area from North Africa to Iraq. The success of the "Middle East Command" reports ensured that these news items topped the global news agenda. The term "Middle East" as a military term soon gained widespread acceptance. The term "Middle East" replaced the older term "Near East" in American and British English.
In recent times, the World Bank and the United Nations have begun to use the acronym MENA for the Middle East region. This is a recognition that the Arab world extends beyond the Sinai Peninsula to Africa.
Cultural connectivity: This is a recognition that the Arab world extends beyond the Sinai Peninsula to Africa.
Modern criticism: Like Mahan's original term "Middle East," the term "MENA" is criticised for being a Western construct that emphasises the value of trade over the indigenous identity of the people.
The persistence of the name "Middle East" itself represents a "colonial map" in a process of evolution. The rise of the name "West Asia" and other local designations indicates that the world is slowly moving away from a view of the region as a strategic link for empires and towards a view of its geographic and cultural sovereignty.
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Source: ZeeNews
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