Syria Current Issue Presentation Example

The Basics ●20 Million people ●Size of Missouri ●Official language: Arabic ●Majority are Muslim ●Capital: Damascus ●Civil war between the Syrian government and rebel forces

Causes of Civil War ●Assad family ruled since 1963 ●Military dictatorship ●Politically-One party system, no free speech, no freedom of conscience ●Economically-Wide gap between rich and poor, high unemployment, little trade with the outside world ●March 2011 (Arab Spring-protests raging across the middle east)

The Issue ●Started in March 2011 when peaceful protesters challenged the President (Bashar al-Assad) ●The protest has turned violent ○ The fighting has lead to about 100,000 deaths ○ And 2 million refugee- many of them children ●The gov’t has used tactics ranging from kidnapping, raping, torturing, and chemical weapons.

World Players ●Obama wants this to be “international collaboration” ●The United States’ biggest ally, Great Britain has voted in favor of not getting militarily involved ●President François Hollande of France is in support of intervention but public support in his country is lacking ●"China calls on parties concerned to exercise restraints and calmness, adhering to the right track of political solution," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement. ●At a minimum Russia wants to achieve U.S. non- intervention in Syria.

Discussion Questions 1. What role do you think the U.S. should play when it comes to the crisis in Syria? 2. Why does the U.S. want to intervene in the Civil War happening in Syria? 3. Is it important that the U.S. have proof that chemical weapons were used before making any decision? Why or why not?