Chapter 23 Section 3Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and

Iraq

Syria Always been a prosperous land Damascus (Capital) Farmlands

• Cotton, wheat, fruit, and vegetables• Methods are OUTDATED

1/3 of country is irrigated Rainfall is unreliable People are moving to the cities and giving up farming

Government Response• Building Dams• Problems with Turkey and dams up river

Syria cont… 1970 General Hafez al-Assad takes

power• Makes ALL political and economic decisions

2000 his son Bashar Assad takes over• Begins to reform

Market-based economy system Pressure from the U.S. gets him to pull out from

Lebanon in 2005

Iraq Fertile Crescent and Civilization

• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers• Grow grains, fruits, and vegetables

Oil discovery in 1920’s• Spent billions of dollars to develop the

country• Airports, roads, schools, universities,

hospitals, dams, industry, and rebuilt ancient city of Baghdad

Iraq cont… Series of Conflicts

• Saddam Hussein• Iran-Iraq War, 1980

Both sides severely damaged – huge debt

• Persian Gulf War, 1991 Invasion of Kuwait for oil reserves

• Iraqi Freedom, 2003 Threat to “National Security” Removal of Saddam and start of Democracy