May it be being Jewish, Muslim, red hair, black, poor, communist, having a large nose or being oversized, people are/have always been conscious of the unknown and Middle East is an unknown territory! Doctrines such as the famous green belt doctrine of President Carter have resulted in the regions suffering! Perhaps instead of an Islamic belt in the Middle East, the U.S. and the European countries could have worked with these nations on creating a combined assembly of every political and ethnical group in each of the Middle Eastern nations.
Covering a range of economic, strategic, and ideological issues with each side trying to protect its own national security, interests and way of life still can be beneficial to every country in the Middle East.