Above is the outline of a redrawn
Middle East map about which
Robin Wright muses in today's New York Times. Although the underlying logic of the new regions is close to standard cocktail party chatter among the pundit class at this point, there''s one curious thing about the map. Somehow, amid this tumultuous redrawing, the following countries would be unaffected (leaving aside Egypt which is fair enough):
Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.
While their history and borders is inextricably linked with the other disappearing countries, those are nice places to go to conferences and meetings where such maps could liven up a conference presentation without imperiling visas or relationships.
