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Southwest Asia & North Africa. Mesopotamia “The Fertile Crescent” . 3000 BCE Sumerians built first known cities in S. Mesopotamia. Over the years - civilizations repeatedly developed, collapsed & were replaced. 550 BCE Persians established an empire here where Iran is today. . - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Southwest Asia & North Africa
Mesopotamia “The Fertile Crescent”
3000 BCE Sumerians built first known cities in S. Mesopotamia.
Over the years - civilizations repeatedly developed, collapsed & were replaced.
550 BCE Persians established an empire here where Iran is today.
Jerusalem – The Holy City • Jerusalem - ancient
city that has been fought over for thousands of years.
• This is partly because it is a place of religious importance for Christians, Muslims & Jews.
Arab/Israeli Conflict • After WWII Jewish people were
escaping from Germany. • Many owned nothing and had
stepped straight out from Hitler’s death camps.
• They sought refuge in Israel, Holy Land for Jews as well as Muslims & Christians.
• Both Jews and Arabs wanted control of this land. Both had claims and the have been fighting for control of this land since.
Iran Revolution: 1979• Shah (King): brutal &
corrupt.
• 1979 People were protesting for the Shahs removal. He fled the country.
• Today Iran has a
Constitutional Theocracy (Islamic religious law).
9/11 & The War in Afghanistan 2001
• On the morning of September 11, 2001 four US airplanes were hijacked by terrorists.
• 2 planes were flown in to the World Trade Center buildings in NYC, 1 plane was flown into the Pentagon and the other was taken back over by the passengers & crash landed in a field killing all passengers onboard, but preventing the plane from flying into another building.
• The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people (19 of which were the hijackers)
The Afghanistan War after 9/11
• The US invaded Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.
• The US demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 attacks but the Taliban refused.
• On May 2, 2011, US Navy Seals found & killed Osama bin Laden at his home in Pakistan.
US Invasion of Iraq 2003
• 2003: US invaded Iraq "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's (their leader) support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.”
US Invasion of Iraq 2003
• 2005: CIA report - no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq.
• Nov 2006: Hussein found guilty by an Iraqi court of torture & murder crimes & sentenced to death by hanging.
• Dec 2011: The last of the American troops out of Iraq – established a parliamentary democracy gov’t
Economy
• Middle East economies range from being very poor (Gaza, Yemen) to extremely wealthy (Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia).
• Israel is the most technologically advanced of the Middle Eastern countries.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)• Former British protectorate• Oil rich
• Palm Islands & The “World”: Artificial peninsulas constructed of sand dredged from the Persian Gulf.
Aswan High DamPurpose: to control the floodwaters, & harness hydroelectric power.
• Before: The Nile flooded annually. The flooding provided nutrients that enriched the soil making the Nile floodplain ideal for farming.
• After: flooding was controlled, however, the farmers lost natural fertilizer brought by the flooding Nile.
