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The Dead Sea is shrinking! There isn't enough water for everyone to live outside of water scarcity and water stress in the poorer countries. This may lead to violence or war.

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2. Why is Oil so Important in Southwest Asia?

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2. Why is Oil so Important in Southwest Asia?

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The world wants what Southwest Asia has and are willing to pay a lot for it.

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

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Video describing OPEC, member countries, and their goals and power.

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Choke Points are shipping lanes with a narrow passage that could be blocked or shut off by a military naval fleet. This would cause havoc in the globalized world to markets and industry that depends on oil.

Using the chart below imagine if the Straits of Hormuz were blocked off. What would happen to the global economy without oil?

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The Suez Canal Was built to save time and money on voyages between Asia and Europe.

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A Teenage Girl Explains Different Forms of Government

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The Teenage Girl attempts to explain different forms of government world wide. Through animation and klezmer music, everything from democracy to theocracy to totalitarian governments will be clarified. Well, mostly.

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Here's why the Arab world is in trouble!

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The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history

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1.) A State is like a country. The USA is a state. It controls its own borders and everything that happens within it.
2.) A Nation is a group of people. (French, Germans, Koreans, Blacks, Whites, etc..) Nationalism is when someone has pride for their group.
3.) A Nation-State is when a group of people have their own country Japan, Korea, Egypt and Poland are all Nation-States. These states are shrinking because of migration
4. A Stateless- Nation is when a group of people DO NOT have their own country. The Kurds and Palestinians are two such groups in SW Asia that are stateless.

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Both these groups are nations of people who DO NOT have their own country. They have a unique culture and identity but are WITHOUT a state.

The Kurds live in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, And Iran while the Palestinians live on Israeli occupied lands.

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The Split happened when the Prophet Mohamed died. The most devoted who felt that they should lead became the Sunnis. Those who felt that Prophet Mohamed's relative should become the new leader became the Shia.

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What's the Difference Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims?

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13. Religion and Everyday Life in Southwest Asia

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13. Religion and Everyday Life in Southwest Asia

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For many in the region religion is very important and plays a central role in decision making and everyday life.