This Prospect piece by Edward Luttwak argues that the Middle East, far from being the center of world affairs, is actually completely unimportant. A thought-provoking argument, and he has some good points (alarmism, Mussolinini complex) but also some pretty stupid ones (Israel-Palestine not important? Maybe if can convince Jews and Muslims elsewhere not to care.) Still, worth reading.
Good luck in convincing US administrations that Middle East oil is not important. The whole article looks like a belated reaction to the 2004 UN human development in Arab countries.