Several MESA Members met in October to organize a two-week summer institute for high school teachers on the general subject of teaching about Islam and the Arab world. Having determined the overall topics to be addressed, we decided to leave one session open to deal with whatever might be “The Crisis of the Day.” Someone asked, “But what if there isn’t a crisis?” Such a possibility seemed quite unthinkable to most of us. “I’m sure there will be something,” said one person. And another, for good measure, added, “And if there isn’t, we can make one up.”

This rather cynical view of the importance of conflict in the overall reality of the Middle East may remind some of us of the distorted joke about the scorpion and the frog crossing the river, often repeated by speakers with the clincher, “This is the Middle East.” In reality, however, it may reflect a deeper concern that many of us have. What is this Middle East to the study of which we have devoted our lives? Have we somehow created an entity for our own needs and purposes that may not correspond to reality?