There are competing definitions of the region called West Asia/Middle East. The region remains an indeterminate area, with no defined frontiers. There is no widely agreed upon definition of the area and the concept has never been neutral or value free. The contours of the region have actually altered in accordance with the shifting strategic interests of the changing dominant powers. The difficulty in defining the region is one aspect of the varied problems relating to the West Asian region, the other critical intrinsic concerns being the perceived escalating security dilemma with the rise of HAMAS, Hezbollah and Iran, and the persisting Israeli-Palestinian predicament that continues to play a critical role in all questions pertaining to the region.