Conflict in the Middle East Mark Seivley July 21, 2006

Geography and Conflict in the Middle East Problem: Conflict has arisen again in the Middle East. The people of the United States are worried about the stability of the world, the safety of our citizens, and the price of gasoline. You and your group are assigned the task of deciding what the United States should do about it, if anything. You will each take a role of an advisor to the President of the United States. You will research the conflict, find out why it is such a problem, and propose a solution to the President.

Advisory Roles Geographer: Will research how Physical and Cultural Geography play a role in the conflict. Should be prepared to create online maps including all of the countries in South West Asia to show where conflict is happening and why. Religious Expert: Will research how religion plays an important role in the conflict. Should be prepared to create a spread sheet showing the different religious beliefs present, and their influence. Historian: Will research the history of the conflict in the Middle East, begin your focus in the early twentieth century. Should be prepared to create a online timeline showing major events in the conflict, especially attempts to establish peace and stability. Israeli Ambassador: Research the Israeli perspective and what they would like to see accomplished in this conflict. Should be prepared to create an online presentation of life in Israel. Lebanese Ambassador: Research the Lebanese perspective and what they would like to see accomplished in this conflict. Should be prepared to create and online presentation of life in Lebanon. Hezbollah Representative: Research the perspective of Hezbollah. Explain what it is, and what they would like to accomplish in this conflict. Should be prepared to create an online presentation of life as a member of Hezbollah. American Political Advisor: Research what the people of America think about this conflict, and what the political consequences of the President’s decision would be. Remember, he would like to win the 2008 Election for his party. A wrong move, may cost them the election. Should be prepared to create an online graph showing popular support for each of the President’s options.

Tasks Find out: –What are the sources of conflict? –Historically what has been attempted to bring peace to the region? –Who are the major players, both individual and group, in this conflict? –What are some possible solutions? Goal: –Present the President of the United States a multimedia presentation outlining the historical, geographical, and religious sources of the conflict, and your recommendation for his best course of action.

Research The next pages contain a list of some internet links which may help you research the problem. Do not limit yourself to these sources, but they are a good place to start

Links Current Situation – – – – Political Information – Military Information –

Links History: – alestinians/default.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_p alestinians/default.stm – – rocess/ stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2000/mideast_peace_p rocess/ stm Geography: – – u.htmhttp:// u.htm Religion: – phttp://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/holy_land/index.as p –

Conclusion Your presentation should be done in MS Powerpoint format. You should include a bibliography of all the sources you used. All members of the group will be required to take part in the research and the presentation. The Presentation should be at least 20 slides long, and take around 15 minutes to present. The presentation should include all of the different members research and tasks. The presentation should be of the highest quality.

Follow up After all groups have made their recommendations, the President will decide what he will do. He will make a speech to the public announcing his intentions. Each student will create an editorial for an online newspaper, arguing either for or against the President’s decision.