The Middle East region has consistently dominated world news coverage in the U.S. for many years, far outstripping coverage of events in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and even Europe. Few would disagree that this is due to the great strategic and political importance of the Middle East to American foreign policy. Indeed, due to numerous reasons, from terrorism to oil to Israel, the fates of the United States and the Middle East have become increasingly intertwined.

Yet when it comes to perceptions of one another, the level of misunderstanding that exists between the two communities is staggering. Despite the heavy saturation of news coverage, the majority of Americans’ understanding of the Middle East region is severely lacking. Knowledge of the fundamental tenets of Islam is rudimentary at best. Even fewer understand the basics of Arab culture and society. A 2006 National Geographic survey found that only one in ten Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 could find Afghanistan on a map.

There are undoubtedly numerous factors that contribute to this dearth of understanding. For starters, a recent poll found that 65 percent of Americans have no personal contact with Muslims. No Muslim friends. No Muslim colleagues or co-workers. Therefore, for most Americans, views and opinions about the Middle East are shaped almost entirely by what they read in newspapers and by the images they see on television – stories and images of war, terrorism, violence, and conflict that are overwhelmingly negative.

I recently had the opportunity to spend a semester studying abroad in Jordan. This experience allowed me to make two very striking observations: First, that Americans’ perceptions of the Middle East are way off target; and to compound the problem, Arabs’ understanding of America is really not much better.

Mistaken perceptions of America in the Arab world range from humorous to offensive. For instance, if you tell a cab driver in Amman that you’re American, there’s a good chance he’ll enthusiastically tell you exactly what he thinks about George Bush and what America is doing in the Middle East, and make you promise that you will “go back and tell people about this.” There is an assumption among many Arabs that since America has a free and democratic system of government, every American has the ability to single-handedly change U.S. policy.

On the other side of the spectrum, racism is also a serious problem when Arabs think of America. I had more than a few cab drivers tell me that my home city of Chicago was “dangerous” because the high concentration of African-Americans meant you were likely to be shot in the streets. Vocal anti-Semitism, too, is appallingly commonplace. These views, reprehensible to Americans long accustomed to coexistence, are held by an alarming number of Jordanians.

[Click here to read part 2]