Middle East Reimagined

The Middle East I have imagined is primarily organized into four great federations of nations: Egyptian, Iranian, Semitic, and Turkic. The common thread uniting these federations is a language family. Two of the federations, Semitic and Egypt, have a common language, Arab, but are split for cultural, ethnic and geographic reasons.

Ethnic groups within the federations having at least 10 million members (with some exceptions) are designated as distinct republics on the map. Republics which may not fit easily into these federations for historical reasons are imagined as Autonomous Nation States. The Kurd Autonomous Republic is one such instance. Israel and a smaller Lebanon are two others. Although it is possible in 200 years that these two might be peaceably integrated into a Semitic Federation.

The rationale for the imagined nations and boundaries is covered in more detail below:

Map

I considered a map of a reimagined Middle East in 2006 and dropped the project. I thought it might be too controversial. I also was unhappy with the topographic maps then available in the public domain to use as a base map. The first issue of the Atlantic magazine of 2008 caused me to reconsider this webpage. It included an article entitled, "After Iraq", with a somewhat flippant map vision of a future Middle East. I thought, I could do better. I also discovered excellent topographic maps of the earth based on the data generated by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission satellite.

The imagined map below can be enlarged by clicking on it with your mouse. Any location on the map can then be brought further into view by clicking again on the desired location.

The boundaries of nations set forth on the map are based on a number of factors: current principal location of ethnic groups, consolidation of the sometime scattered locations of these groups, logical and/or defensible geographic formations (mountains, deserts, etc.) coterminous with the boundary, and political reality. For this to work, at least two mass movements of people would regrettably be required.

Three basins on the map (Caspian, Qattara, and Dead Sea) are shown filled with water to sea level.

The name recognizes that the language family historically dominate in this region was Semitic. Although the predominate semitic language currently is Arab, the Semitic name gives explicit recognition to other Semitic languages such as Hebrew. The boundaries within this federation are generally not based on ethnic differencies. The rationale for its organization is both the most complex and tentative of all the federations set forth here. Most of the designated republics within this federation do not exceed 10 million residents in population.

The nation of Iraq was created by the British at the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. The reimagined Middle East has the northern highlands becoming part of the Kurd Republic, with the rest divided among a new nation of Mesopotamia, a redesigned Iraq, and a new Baghdad city state.

Mesopotamia would include the primarily Shiite areas of Iraq south of Baghdad, Arab speaking western Khuzestan in Iran, and the primarily Shiite coastal area of Saudi Arabia north of Qatar, plus the island of Bahrain. The reconstituted Iraq would include the primarily Sunni Iraq north of Baghdad, western and southern Iraq beyond the Shiite areas and Kuwait, plus small eastern areas of Syria and Jordan. Kuwait, created by the British, is included since it is primarily Sunni Moslem in religion and would provide the new Iraq with its own outlet to the sea.

The Baghdad City State recognizes the Shia/Sunni divide of present day Iraq, with the country split between the two Moslem sects. Making the city a separate administrative entity would facilitate the creation of a more secular government open to equal opportunity for members of both sects. It also recognizes that division of the city between the two main Moslem sects would be an untenable solution. Baghdad, as the former capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, would be a prime candidate for the capital of the Semitic Federation.

The reimagined Syria would include most of current Syria plus southern Shiite Lebanon and the Golan Heights currently administered by Israel.

The new Palestine would include the West Bank portion of Palestinian lands, Jordan (with about 40% of its people being of Palestinian extraction) and the area of Saudi Arabia bordering the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan, created by the British out of most of the post World War I Palestinian mandate to provide a kingdom for Abdullah of the Hashemite family, would be folded into a new Palestine. The area of present day Saudi Arabia along the Gulf of Aqaba would provide a new seaside home for relocated Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, a failed entity in its current isolated location and cramped size. The flat desert lands along the entrance of the Gulf would be watered by desalinated sea water to create farmland. The farmers, fishermen and rest of Gazan Palestine could live in peace in a greatly expanded homeland.

Hijaz would include some of the holiest sites of Islam; Mecca and Medina. This land would no longer be under the thrall of the intolerant and fundamentalist Wahhabi sect of Islam. Arabia would include much of the rest of today's Saudi Arabia plus the Arab Gulf states. The boundaries of Yemen and Oman would be similar to today, with some minor expansion.

Last we come to Israel and Lebanon. The ideal situation would be their inclusion in a tolerant Semitic Federation. The alternative would be their existence as autonomous republics similar to the Kurds. The second situation would make the Arabian Federation a more likely name for this federation.