1. Objective
Examine the impact of location and geography on the people and culture of the Middle East

2. Introduction to the Middle East
Crucible: a place or set of circumstances where people or things are subjected to forces that test them and often make them change
Answer the following questions:
1. What is the one perspective many Middle Easterners share?
2. Why was the region given the name Middle East?
3. Identify several perspectives that can be used to identify this region.
4. Describe the region’s economic and political status.
5. What is the most compelling concerns of the region?

3. Answers Nothing is as it seems….exceptions to everything
European perception to what is “middle”
Far East and West
Perspectives
Ethnic
Religious
Geographic
Wealth from oil and natural gas but most people are not wealthy politically unstable
Coexistence of the West and Islam