Syria: Background

• Population: 20,000,000

• Capital City: Damascus

• Major Centers: Aleppo, Homs,

• Ar Raqqah, Palmyra

• Government: Presidential Republic; highly authoritarian regime. President elected by simple majority in an election every 7 years.

• Demographics: Majority of pop. is Muslim, Arabic speaking.

Palmyra

The Al Assad Family

Hafez

Bashar

Bassel

Bashar al Assad

• President of Syria• Member of Ba’ath Party• Succeeded upon his father’s

death• Father, Hafez al Assad seized

power in a military coup in 1970• Bashar won elections in 2000

and 2007, receiving 97% of the vote

The Situation since 2011…

• The Arab Spring led to protestors calling for the resignation of al-Assad

• Protests turned violent, clashes with police and military escalated to the point of Civil War

• Many different factions arose in opposition to the Assad regime, including extremist Islamic Jihadist groups

• Fighting has devastated most of the country. War crimes have been reported and an enormous humanitarian crisis has ensued

• Proxy war has developed as other countries take sides backing Syrian allies

• 250,000 people have lost their lives

• 11 million have been forced from their homes

Understanding the Syrian Conflict

1. Who’s fighting whom?

2. Geography & Real Estate

3. What “War Crimes”?

4. Refugees

5. Friends & Allies

Understanding the Syrian ConflictAssignment: Create a PowerPoint presentation the answers your group’s assigned question and elaborates upon that aspect of the situation

1. Who’s fighting and with whom? • Describe the various fighting factions, their origins, numbers, capabilities and objectives

2. Geography & Real Estate• Describe the physical and political geography of Syria. Identify important locations in the

story of unrest, uprising and civil war. What militarized groups hold certain areas of the country

3. What “War Crimes”?• Identify atrocities that have been committed during this conflict. Identify the victims as well

as the perpetrators. What agencies have gotten involved to report upon and help ease the hostilities

4. Refugees• The conflict has produced the worst refugee situation perhaps ever. What story do the

numbers tell? How many people have fled Syria? How many have died trying to do so? Where have they ended up? What specific challenges have migrants faced?

5. Friends & Allies• How is the rest of the world responding to this conflict? What other groups or countries have

weighed in with alliances and military/financial support? Has the situation in Syria become a proxy war?

Understanding the Syrian Conflict: Article Study

1. Battle for Aleppo

2. Geopolitical Earthquake

3. War Crimes Investigators

4. The Death of Alan Kurdi

5. 8 Key Players in the War

1. Identify source and time context

2. Summarize Article (who, what, when, where, why, how)

3. Identify information that is particularly important for your topic

4. Identify issues that you want to research more because it seems like they are important to your presentation