中东 — — 这个名字来源于它夹在欧洲和东亚中间的地理位置 — — 曾归属奥斯曼土耳其帝国统治400年，随后，奥斯曼帝国在一战中被协约国打败，中东也根据赛克斯-皮科协定（Sykes-Picot Agreement）分裂为不同的政治单元，归属英国或法国的势力范围。
The Middle East – named for its geographic position between Europe and East Asia – was under Ottoman rule for 400 years before the Allied powers, after defeating the Ottomans in World War I, partitioned the region into distinct political units that, under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, fell within spheres of influence carved out by the United Kingdom and France.