ABSTRACT
Since the end of World War II, events and issues regarding the Greater Middle East have played a prominent role in American foreign policy. Today, Middle Eastern events have great implications for the security and prosperity of the United States. The Greater Middle East stretches from Morocco to Iran and Turkey to Yemen. It includes a wide range of religions, political ideologies and philosophies, creating a caldron that occasionally explodes with regional and global implications. In the past, the continued existence of the state of Israel and access to a reliable oil source dominated American interests in the region. Since al-Qaeda’s aĴacks against the United States on 11 September 2001, however, Washington has focused on global terrorism in general and the Middle East in particular.
