The New Middle East.

Publication: APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map

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This is piece by Joschka Fischer published on May 5 by The Daily Star of Beirut (underlining by APS): "President George W. Bush's Middle East policy undeniably managed to achieve one thing: It has thoroughly destabilized the region. Otherwise, the results are not at all what the United States had hoped to accomplish.

"A democratic, pro-Western Middle East is not in the cards. But, while things are not developing as American neo-conservatives had intended, they are nevertheless developing. The historical failure of the Iraq war, the demise of secular Arab nationalism and the soaring oil and gas prices have wrought profound changes in the region. From Damascus to Dubai, from Tel Aviv to Tehran, a new Middle East is now emerging.

"The old Middle East arose from the borders and political identities created by the European powers after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Its driving ideological force was...

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