The use of the term Middle East as a region of international affairs apparently began <answer>in British and American diplomatic circles</answer> quite independently of each other over concern for the security of the same country: Iran, then known to the west as Persia. In 1900 Thomas Edward Gordon published an article, The Problem of the Middle East, which began:
Where did the use of the term Middle East as a region of international affairs begin?
in British and American diplomatic circles