European Perspectives on Middle East Affairs

[The European engagement in Near Eastern affairs is neither a recent development nor limited to political and economic domain. The Christian faith that largely shapes the European mind and landscape traces its heritage to the ancient Near East. This explains the mobilization of European kings and subjects towards asserting their ‘right’ to sway the Holy Land of Palestine during the Crusades in Medieval Ages. Although the European-Near Eastern relationship expanded from religiously motivated wars to socio-political interaction of the two peoples in Middle Ages. Different segments of European societies benefited from rich Islamic literature, philosophy, scientific developments and inventions. Reaching the modern age, the European involvement in this region was mostly imperial and political that laid down the basis of their current commitments in Iraq, Iran, and, most importantly, Israel-Palestine conflict. – Ed.]