Location: Southwest AsiaAt the Crossroads of 3 Continents

Much of the region is desert Ex. Sahara (Hot & Lacks Water)

•Greatest population around coast & rivers

•Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea,Persian Gulf

•Nile River, Tigris-Euphrates Provides half the worlds oil (OPEC)

Switch from hunting and gathering to farming and permanent settlement

Civilizations grew near sources of water

Ex. Early River Valley Civilizations

Located around Fertile CrescentMesopotamia

“Land between 2 rivers”

Phoenicians, Sumerians,Egyptians,Babylonians,Persians, Hebrews

Law: Hammurabi’s Code Writing Systems:

• Cuneiform (Sumerians)• Hieroglyphics (Egyptians)• Phonetics (Phoenicians)

Architecture:• Pyramids-Egypt• Ziggurat-Sumerians• Hanging Gardens- Babylon

The Wheel, Calendar, etc.

Egyptians- Polytheistic

Judaism

Christianity

Eastern Orthodox

Islam

War in Afghanistan

Civil War in Lebanon

Iran Iraq War

Persian Gulf War

Arab-Israeli Conflict

Brutal Civil War between Muslims & ChristiansPalestinian refugees & PLO leaders settle in LebanonMuslims gain majority over ChristiansIsrael & Syria both enter conflictUneasy truce in 1992

Belief that Muslims should strictly follow Islamic law & resist Western influences

Ex. Iranian Revolution, Afghanistan

Modernization vs. TraditionalismPro-Western Shah overthrownAyatollah Khomeini establishes a religious state based on Islamic lawEx. limited woman rightsSeizes U.S. Embassy/Hostage Crisis

Muslim rebels overthrow Soviet puppet governmentTaliban set up extremist Islamic State

Men cannot cut beards, Women must be covered,cannot attend school

Taliban ousted by U.S. forces following 9/11

Border dispute explodes into full scale war

•Ayatollah Khomeini vs. Saddam Hussein

•Ravages both nations economies Iraq demands financial aid from KuwaitCause of the Persian Gulf War 1990

Iraq invades & annexes KuwaitOperation Desert Shield

US led coalition defends Saudi Arabia from Iraq

Operation desert StormCoalition destroys Iraqi forces & liberates Kuwait

UN levies sanctions against Iraq

Jewish sovereignty in Palestine goes back 3000 years until they were driven out in 135 A.D.

Diaspora-dispersal of Jews from Palestine

Arab Sovereignty dates back to the 7th centuryBoth groups stake claim to the region

Zionism- movement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine(1890’s)Balfour Declaration-statement that British made supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine (WWI)Nazi persecution of the Jews sparks movement to Israel(WWII)

1947- UN partitions Palestine into a Palestinian & Jewish state

Palestinians rejected partition

•1948 David Ben Gurion announced creation of the state of Israel

Arabs react by waging war in 1956,1967, 1973Defeated each time

1948- War for Independence

1956- Suez Crisis

1967- Six Day War

1973 Yom Kippur War

1978 Camp David Accords- Brokered by President Carter

Peace Treaty between Israel (Menachem Begin) & Egypt (Anwar Sadat)Israel returns Sinai Peninsula

Sadat is eventually assassinated

The Oslo Accords

Portions of the West Bank & Gaza were to be governed by a Palestinian authority led by Yasir Arafat

Attempts at peace today have been hindered by terrorist attacks

Palestinian Liberation OrganizationLed by Yasir Arafat1970’s & 1980’s PLO militants began a terror campaign against IsraelIntifada- Militant uprising inside Israel

Terror attacks, boycotts, demonstrations continue today

•Militant group such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Jihad,& Al Qaeda commit acts of terrorism among Israel and its supporters

Kemal Ataturk (1923)Father of the Turks

•Modernizes/Westernizes Turkey

•Democracy

•Secularization-Legal System based on European rather than Islamic Law

1967: Six Day War- Israel occupied Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and the West Bank1973: Egypt attacked Israel’s occupation of troops in the Sinai Peninsula, Syria attacked in Golan Heights1978: Camp David Accords-Israel’s Begin, Egyptian’s Sadat and U.S.’s Carter Egypt recognized Israel1993: Israel and PLO self government for West Bank Palestinians