The Middle East -- middle of nowhere

Experts on the the Islamic Belt (I don't have a better term since it covers North, East Africa as well as Southwest Asia; the author seems to have no problem lumping Algeria into the region) are overestimating the region's importance and fighting capacity in their dramatic pronouncements.

With neither invasions nor friendly engagements, the peoples of the middle east should finally be allowed to have their own history—the one thing that middle east experts of all stripes seem determined to deny them.

He's actually quite disparaging of the region, calling it "backwards", but at least he acknowledges history:

The middle east was once the world's most advanced region, but these days its biggest industries are extravagant consumption and the venting of resentment.