Geography is the canvas on which history—the lives of people over years, centuries, millennia—is painted. The rivers, mountains, plains and valleys, oil deposits and rainfall patterns of the Middle East have shaped and will continue to shape the contours of peoples’ lifestyles, livelihoods, prosperity and/or poverty, war and/or peace.

The history of the Middle East is a complex skein woven of peoples, religions, economic forces, and the natural environment. It is often claimed that history matters more in the Middle East, that people don't change easily and that they hold on to ancient identities, customs and even hatreds in a way that is particular to the region.

The Middle East has been for thousands of years a crossroads not just of trade goods but also of peoples. The movement of many different ethno-linguistic groups into and within the region has created an enormously rich diversity of languages, cultures and ethnicities.

Three of the major religions of the world, the monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all begin in the Middle East. The three faiths are inextricably intertwined: Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God, their prophetic traditions are linked, and much of the religious law, doctrines, and views of morality and the afterlife are similar.

We may think about "Islamic civilization," but that does not give us a very realistic idea of the diversity and modernity of the cultural production of the Middle East today.