The illusion of a “New Middle East”: History’s echo in a multipolar age

Every few decades, the phrase “New Middle East” resurfaces like a mirage on the political horizon — shimmering, promising, and always just out of reach. It has been invoked by imperial officials, Cold War strategists and modern technocrats alike. The language changes — from “modernisation” to “stability,” from “peace process” to “normalisation” — yet the promise remains the same: that the region can be redesigned into order. But history is not so easily redrawn. As Marc Lynch argued in his recent Foreign Affairs essay, “The Fantasy of a New Middle East” (October 2025), this illusion persists because it flatters those who believe they can manage the region’s destiny. The fantasy lies not in the desire for peace, but in the […]