The West faces the new Eastern Question

"From time immemorial Europe has been confronted with an 'Eastern Question.' In its essence the problem is unchanging. It has arisen from the clash in the lands of South-Eastern Europe between the habits, ideas and preconceptions of the West and those of the East. But although one in essence, the problem has assumed different aspects at different periods."

This is how Sir John A.R. Marriott describes the Eastern Question in his classic text "The Eastern Question, An Historical Study in European Diplomacy." This definition of the Eastern Question, though framed a century ago, has proved an enduring tool for understanding developments in our region.

Until the early years of the 20th century, the long-drawn-out process of the shrinking of the Ottoman Empire and its geopolitical sway was central to the Eastern Question. The fall of the empire and the establishment of the...