The traditional framing of the “Middle East” as a discrete region oriented toward Europe has obscured a more fundamental reality: the region is Asian, shaped by Asia, and increasingly shaping the Asian order itself. The term “Middle East” itself, coined in 1902 by American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan to describe a British imperial corridor from the Mediterranean to Arabia to India, has distorted U.S. strategy for over a century by orienting Washington toward Europe at the expense of the region’s deepening ties with Asia.
Order-building that allows Washington to institutionalize a West Asian system is the only pathway for the U.S. to pivot credibly to East Asia, where competition with China will ultimately decide the future of American power. A functional West Asian architecture must bring together diverse partners—France, Italy, Greece, Japan, and South Korea alongside Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, and Qatar. This system allows America to accomplish more with less, without leaving strategic gaps that competitors can exploit.
The Iran war represents a costly distraction from this imperative. The war has consumed American attention and resources, casting a shadow over Washington’s position in Asia, particularly regarding Taiwan. The war has also accelerated the formation of two competing regional blocs: the Indo-Abrahamic coalition of Israel, India, and the UAE, and the Indo-Islamic axis of Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Both are operating within the framework of American security guarantees, but the window for consolidating this order around shared interests is narrowing. Washington must choose: continue its ideological wars in the Middle East, or build the architecture for sustainable American power in Asia.
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Wednesday, August 19, 2026 I 11:00am-1:00pm
* Luncheon Event *
Venue:
Bass Berry & Sims – 21 Platform Way S, Suite 3500, Nashville, TN 37203
Register Now
Featured Speaker: Mohammed Soliman (Director, McLarty Associates / Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute)
Mohammed Soliman is a director at McLarty Associates and a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. A trained engineer, Mr. Soliman works on strategic and policy issues at the intersection of technology, artificial intelligence, finance, and energy in emerging markets. He is the author of West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East (Polity Press, 2026). Soliman also serves as a non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a visiting fellow with the National Security Program at Third Way. On X: @thisissoliman
