In recent decades,^[1]http://www.timemaps.com/history/middle-east-1871ad the Suez canal’s immense importance in linking European nations with their empires in East Africa,^[2]http://www.timemaps.com/history/africa-1914ad India,^[3]http://www.timemaps.com/history/south-asia-1914ad SE Asia^[4]http://www.timemaps.com/history/south-east-asia-1914ad and the Pacific^[5]http://www.timemaps.com/history/oceania-1914ad has placed the Middle East right at the heart of their concerns. The British, being the leading global power, are at the forefront in establishing their interests in the region. Egypt^[6]http://www.timemaps.com/history/egypt-1914ad has now drifted under their political control, as have several small emirates on the Arabian^[7]http://www.timemaps.com/history/arabia-1914ad coast. British commercial interests predominate in Iraq^[8]http://www.timemaps.com/history/iraq-1914ad and Iran^[9]http://www.timemaps.com/history/iran-1914ad – which is also a target for Russian influence. French commercial influence is strong in Syria.^[10]http://www.timemaps.com/history/syria-1914ad

In the face of these pressures, the Ottoman empire has continued to tighten its control over Anatolia,^[11]http://www.timemaps.com/history/turkey-1914ad Syria and Iraq, and is also intent on modernizing its dominions’ economies. The Ottoman government seeks to balance British and French influence by developing closer ties with Germany.

In the Arabian^[12]http://www.timemaps.com/history/arabia-1914ad peninsula, a third Saudi kingdom has appeared, and this time it will endure. Two further developments which will have a dramatic impact on the coming decades^[13]http://www.timemaps.com/history/middle-east-1960ad in the region are the arrival of Jews in increasing numbers in Palestine, from the 1880s onwards, and the discovery of oil in Arabia, in 1901.