<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it . Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find link tool for suggestions . (August 2013) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it . Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find link tool for suggestions . (August 2013) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Middle East has been a region of geopolitical and economic significance to the world far before American involvement in the area . This was largely because the "Middle East contained or bordered on the land bridges, passageways, and narrows--the Sinai isthmus, the Caucuses, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, Bab el Mandeb, and the Strait of Hormuz--and the sheltered seas--the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf--that provided the best routes connecting the different extremities of the vast Eurasian / African continent ." The value of being a prominent player in the region was therefore obvious to the United States as well as to several other Western powers including Great Britain and France . In addition to its pivotal geographic location in the world, the abundance of oil in the Middle East has probably played the biggest role in issues of foreign policy and international relations . The United States needed Middle Eastern oil and Middle Eastern nations needed Western capital and technology . This mutually beneficial but dependent relationship would forge strong alliances but also be the cause of harsh conflicts . </P> <P> The history of American economic interests in the Middle East cannot be examined without understanding the involvement of several Western powers in the region . The availability of oil in the Middle East was always known, however, it did not influence politics or economics until Winston Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom, decided to create a new generation of battleships fueled by oil instead of coal in 1908 . This decision had a massive impact on geopolitical and economic concerns . With this decision, the success and importance of the newly formed Anglo - Persian Oil Company was guaranteed and the world's dependence on oil was initiated . Due to relative power considerations, all other battleships were rendered obsolete and so with one swift move, oil became a crucial, yet external resource . The United States later described oil as "a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history," reflecting its huge importance . </P>

What strategic political and economic interests did the us have in the middle east
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