The Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918 and the British created new borders (with new rulers) to keep the peace and to protect their interests. Today, much of the Middle East is defined by these somewhat random borders.

Viewing Islam from a Western perspective is difficult and often leads to misunderstanding. Islam is not just a religion, nor is it a fundamentalist political movement; it is a civilization and "a way of life that varies from one Muslim country to another but is animated by a common spirit far more humane than most Westerners realize."

The concept of forming a Jewish state was encouraged by scholars at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1896, Theodor Herzl published a book calling for just such a state, which was met with alarm and hostility. Martin Peretz traces the history of this momentous challenge of setting up a Jewish state in the historical homeland of Palestine.

The importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people is paramount; it is considered to be the religious city of Judaism. It is a place so holy that its soil and even its air is deemed sacred. To the Muslims, Jerusalem is of importance only from a political perspective, and it has never been a cultural center or served as a capital of a sovereign Muslim state.

Syria has begun to develop relations with the United States as well as Israel, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and other Middle East states. This has put Damascus into the position of being an effective forum for Mideast political discourse.

Turkey is in a unique position, both geographically and politically. Geographically, it borders Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and it is able to control the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Politically, Turkey has been a solid example of a Muslim country that was also a working democracy, but as this article points out, recent political moves on the part of the military have jeopardized the government.

Archaeologists have found evidence that indicates that Yemen had a population that would revise many views of the earliest Arabian towns. As John Noble Wilford points out, the ancient Arabians had a developed agriculture and urban centers.