Revolts In "The Mideast"---How Maps Fool Us & The Revolt In Greece

We look at a map of Northern Africa and the so-called "Mideast" and we see something that is not there---Arab-, tribal- and Persian-speaking regions called a "mideast" and somehow disconnected from the rest of the African continent, the southern Balkans and points eastward. These countries have spent more time in relationship with the rest of Africa, southern Italy, Malta, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbijan and Bukhara than they have with western Europe and the United States, but the designations "mideast" and "northern Africa" situate them only in relationship to the modern imperialist powers. The peoples of these countries have their own histories and their own associations.

The rebellions underway in Greece and Albania, barely mentioned in the US press, are seen as something quite separate from what is taking place across the region. The slowly building protest movements in Armenia and Azerbijan don't even get that much notice.

We need to rethink geography and language if we're going to understand what's going on.

Meanwhile, go here for a great report on what's happening in Greece.