There is no ‘Middle East.’ There’s a Levant America loves and a Gulf China needs

In fact, the geographic conception of the “Middle East” conflates two strategically distinct sub-regions: the Levant and the Persian Gulf.

The Levant encompasses the following countries: Israel, the Palestinian territories (the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem), Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. Prior to the June 1967 war, the West Bank and East continue reading …