ABSTRACT
The delimitation of the global area known as the Middle East is itself somewhat contentious. Therefore, the identifi cation of contiguous regions, which in some sense react with the Middle East and for convenience can be termed the Rimland, must be to an extent arbitrary. Some groups of countries, such as those of Central Asia or the Horn of Africa, comprise a recognised region; others, such as parts of south-eastern Europe or south-western Asia, do not. Some regions, such as the Sahel, consist of several countries; others, such as the contiguous part of south-western Asia, comprise only one. Only four of the countries included have no contiguous boundary with a Middle Eastern state. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are included because they have close historical and current ties with the other three states of Central Asia. All the states of the Horn of Africa are separated from the core of the Middle East by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden but whereas Eritrea and Ethiopia have a common border with Sudan to the west, Djibouti and Somalia have no contiguous boundaries with Middle Eastern states. The one state not included, which has a contiguous boundary, is China. The boundary stretches for 76 km through the Karakoram Range at the eastern end of the Wakhan Panhandle. This boundary accounts for 0.3 per cent of the total boundary length of China. Given the almost total inaccessibility of this boundary, it is felt that China is effectively no more in the Rimland of the Middle East than Russia or India. The infl uence of these three great powers is far more pervasive in the Middle East and more signifi cant in the geopolitics than that of any Rimland region. These infl uences are considered, as appropriate, in Sections C, D and E.
