两次大战期间，中东从传统的多民族帝国为主演变为众多现代民族实体。二战后中东地区格局的变化分为三个阶段：1944～1967年，英法旧殖民主义衰落，中东国家先后独立，同时卷入冷战并形成了亲美国家和亲苏国家两大集团，阿拉伯民族主义进入高潮；1967～1990年，美国逐渐取得优势，苏联影响下降，中东的冷战对立开始减弱，产油国的经济调整启动，伊斯兰复兴运动进入高潮。1990年以后，冷战结束，美国成为影响中东的主要外部势力，而中东的地区矛盾激化。海湾战争后，极端宗教势力崛起，并发动了“9·11”袭击，美国发起的反恐战争和伊拉克战争使中东进入了新一轮动荡，中东剧变则推动地区国家彻底陷入了大动荡。
Between the two world wars，the traditional multi-ethnic empires became modern political entities in the Middle East.After World War II，changes of the configuration of the Middle East can be divided into three stages：in 1944-1967，the British and French colonialism declined；Middle East countries gained independence，were involved in the Cold War then and formed pro-American and pro-Soviet countries，and Arabia nationalism climaxed.In 1967-1990，the US gradually replaced Soviet influence as the dominant force，the Cold War confrontation began to weaken，the economic adjustment in oil producing countries started，and the Islamic Revival Movement climaxed.After 1990，the Cold War ended，The US became the main external force affecting the Middle East，and the regional contradictions there were intensifying.After the Gulf War，the rise of extremist religious forces led to the “911”attack；the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War launched by the US have resulted a new round of turmoil，and the upheaval of Middle East have promoted regional countries completely into big turmoil.
