This document provides an overview of major historical events and influences that have shaped the modern Middle East, including the involvement of American missionaries, the Balfour Declaration, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, World War I and the Armenian Genocide, British influence in Iraq, the Cold War, the creation of Israel, the Suez Crisis, and the long history of the region. It also introduces the instructor for the course, Chris Lee, who has a PhD in history and experience with the military and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.