What's more surprising is non-collapsed Poland. And who is that in the Middle East?
Thats mostly due to my intervention. We made an Alliance near the start and it has been going since then, with the occasional moments where it broke due to Religous changes (I went Prostant and they went Reformed) and wars I simply couldn't join because inevitable Alliance Cascades, Large Stab hits, and Clusterfucks. I don't know why I'm still allied with them. I guess Poland just kinda grew on me a bit and I couldn't just let them go.
Early game I had to bail them out from getting completely fucked over by Bohemia (Back when the HRE still existed) and Lithuania. Speaking of Lithuania, oh god, they were once REALLY fucking Scary. They managed to break out of their PU with Poland because they were Excomunicated when their Ruler died and go on an Absolute rampage. By the end of it, they Literally extended straight from the Black sea to the White sea. We (Me, Poland, and Russia (Then Muscowy)) managed to get them under control by the time that Map was made, but god DAMN. They used to be a Iron Clad Steamroller.
And who is that in the Middle East?
Persia. And if you had a keen eye, you could also see that they had colonies on the Horn of Africa and even in South East Asia.