"Ryan Ginstrom" <ryang@gol.com> wrote in message
news:2qhchrFtsjs9U1@uni-berlin.de...
>
> "necoandjeff" <spam@schrepfer.com> wrote in message
> news:E%E0d.14132$QJ3.4776@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> > Arab countries that are surrounded by the above.
>
> You seem to be confused about the regions known as:
> - The Middle East
> - The Arab world
> - The Muslim world
>
> Which explains why you think e.g. Israel is not in the Middle East.
>
> I think the fuzziness of borders is mainly in your own mind.

Nothing fuzzy about the borders between these countries (occupied
territories notwithstanding) and I'm not confused at all. We're talking
about degrees of Middle Easternness here. Saudi Arabia is much more strongly
Middle Eastern in my mind than Afghanistan. Just as the U.S. and Canada are
much more strongly North American in my mind than Mexico, NAFTA
notwithstanding.