I grew up in a suburban town in northern Virginia outside of Washington DC. Some environmental factors that are different between there and the Middle East would be the ethnic make-up of the population, majority religion, and the climate, among many others. Where I live grew up the majority of people are Caucasian, (of European descent) but also with large minority populations of Asian-Americans(mostly from east Asia) and Hispanics(mostly from central America). In the Middle East there are probably a good amount of Caucasian people, but they would be in the minority, not the majority. It is doubtful that the Asian or Hispanic populations would be significant there. Another large difference is the majority religion. Where I grew up it is majority Christian, and the Middle East is majority Muslim. The climate in each place is very different, with the Middle East being hotter year round with little to no seasons and very arid, while in Virginia there are all four seasons and it is usually very humid. Another difference is that the buildings, cities, and settlements in the Middle East are much older than in the US. Also, the US is a democracy whereas many middle eastern countries are not. These are just a few of the many differences between these two places.
These differences would lead to a lot of differences in day to day life, and thus a lack of understanding between cultures. The huge differences in culture would reflect differences in the clothes people where, how people entertain themselves, what people eat, etc. The climate difference would also heavily impact these things. The worldviews of people in these two places would be different because of their different governmental systems, history, and culture.
Some resources to use to help increase understanding of the Middle East are the news (diversified sources, not just western), historical books about the Middle East and its culture, and meeting people who are from the Middle East (either visiting it physically or meeting people in the US who come from there).