Fire of Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot is seen following strikes in Tehran.
Credit: Reuters Photo
The term “Middle East” has its roots in eurocentric agenda and colonial discourse.
There is lot of ambiguity that is associated with the term “Middle East”
It is a term coined and largely used by “the West” (another ambiguous word in contention) influencing global narrative and terminology.
The term is geographically imperfect and reflects not how the region perceives itself, but how external powers namely, European Imperialists and American strategists perceive the territory.
During the 19th century, the region of Asia was categorised into three parts: Far East, Middle East and Near East. The terms far and near east have not gained as much traction, this leads us to the question of why we still use the broadly eurocentric terminology ‘Middle East’.
The “Occident” viewed the “Orient” in the manner stated above which is an example of European racialized geography.
Over time the rest of the world adapted the western thought process without taking into consideration which regions, what countries and what geographical aspect the middle east covers.
The origin of the word clearly lies in western contexts along with which it relates with various regional biases, stereotypes and modern political implications which are difficult to disassociate from the term.
To create a more just form of identification of the territory the terms Southwest Asia or West Asia would most certainly be relevant because they are geographically accurate and specific terms that encompass the same region.
Renaming the region would not only serve as a medium of decolonization but also acts as a step towards reclaiming its political philosophy, heritage, and agency. The concept of political Mehr, offers a better and postmodern outlook on governance transcending modernity’s limitation while retaining all its strengths.
With the adoption of this philosophy, West Asia aligns with its historical traditions that prioritises participatory democracy, social equity, and the protection of communal wealth rather than propagating foreign ideologies.