News for today's 2018

<br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p5fQ5hYGZ5OeB8RhrkBDqGjy4nYwwGCQXUl3AuuXXN5PYk0M540QPeLzTcyffU3xwN_O7Rz2W1gNPdrE7HZvuTO1lhtoas6gtGdTBaALUuMKbwtZf9gsOwHcyUtqA10N_biPpHxA9urx/s1600/1_4image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p5fQ5hYGZ5OeB8RhrkBDqGjy4nYwwGCQXUl3AuuXXN5PYk0M540QPeLzTcyffU3xwN_O7Rz2W1gNPdrE7HZvuTO1lhtoas6gtGdTBaALUuMKbwtZf9gsOwHcyUtqA10N_biPpHxA9urx/s320/1_4image-large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© MSNNews                        </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #444444;">7 MOMENTS IN MODERN SYRIAN HISTORY YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO KNOW</span> </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The war has been going on for the past two years in SYRIA. According to the United Nations, over <a href="http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-20325.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">100,000 people have died</span></a> in the conflict up to this point. The war, which has reached a very large scale, is at the center of current regional and world affairs. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what to do about the situation and a very specific view of the SYRIAN regime. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, you can only have an informed view if you look back to what forces actually shaped SYRIA'S current position in the region. Here are some key historical moments in the modern history of the country that you simply <i>must</i> be aware of:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. 1916 — THE SYKES-PICOT AGREEMENT </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVt3cdTlvT7HOeFcksqmhzkkGRea7SIrvUsx-Lll2wqXc4ou9NRwCf3YneFnszZboUQYjEd4d0o0mmgMGy4QvKxgvc7Xhlnic4lhtaRX-Z8jb_9iPYBOZPRX-nAXk7frXShM37NBkBquw3/s1600/1_image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVt3cdTlvT7HOeFcksqmhzkkGRea7SIrvUsx-Lll2wqXc4ou9NRwCf3YneFnszZboUQYjEd4d0o0mmgMGy4QvKxgvc7Xhlnic4lhtaRX-Z8jb_9iPYBOZPRX-nAXk7frXShM37NBkBquw3/s320/1_image-large.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="attribution">Via:                                         <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Sykes-Picot.svg/533px-Sykes-Picot.svg.png" target="_blank">JewishVirtualLibrary</a>                                      </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">World powers do not usually talk about the division of conquered land until it's conquered. But when they do, they make a real mess.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Until the end of World War I, SYRIA, like most Middle Eastern and North African Arab countries, was under Ottoman rule. The BRITISH and FRENCH aligned themselves with ARAB nationalists in order to bring down the "Sick Man of EUROPE." Promises made to both <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/277478/Husayn-McMahon-correspondence" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Arab leaders</span></a> and the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1682961.stm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">World Zionist Organization</span></a> were overshadowed by a closed-door meeting between FRENCH and BRITISH diplomats Picot and Sykes, who actually partitioned the former Ottoman land between FRENCH and BRITISH influence before the conflict had even neared the end. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Modern SYRIA, as part of to-be-FRENCH-controlled territory (in blue), was created out of Greater SYRIA (the entirety of the Levant), and was to comprise a heterogeneous population within artificial boundaries.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Until this day, the same boundaries have grouped Alawites, Syrian Sunnis, Druze, Kurds, and Christians together, based on frontiers drafted decades ago at 10 Downing Street.</span><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FRENCH MANDATE AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE ALAWITES PETITIONED THE FRENCH FOR AN INDEPENDENT STATE</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/the-alawites-and-israel.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/the-alawites-and-israel.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE EAGER TO ENGAGE IN SYRIA. WHY? </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/france-eager-to-engage-in-syra-why.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/france-eager-to-engage-in-syra-why.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYKES PICOT AGREEMENT</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FRANCES COLONIAL AMBITIONS IN SYRIA</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/frances-colonial-ambitions-in-syria.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/frances-colonial-ambitions-in-syria.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR;">SECTARIAN EQUATION </span></b></span><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/syria-and-dogs-of-war.html"><span lang="ES-AR" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-AR;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/syria-and-dogs-of-war.html</span></a></span><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR;"></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. 1949 — USA-SPONSORED AL-ZAYIMY COUP </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqx00fVwlVnhPp3MmYRcLQ366bIaXxOLwJy1ugto4qzn0u1psZkeBvoIRkZA7yqRgz6epSG04AFOVlj5dafttg8y3r_2UWzXNtI7BFeIG3B6avt6ac0V8TYQKC0foUEYIpPWXRbrW2sj3G/s1600/1_2image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqx00fVwlVnhPp3MmYRcLQ366bIaXxOLwJy1ugto4qzn0u1psZkeBvoIRkZA7yqRgz6epSG04AFOVlj5dafttg8y3r_2UWzXNtI7BFeIG3B6avt6ac0V8TYQKC0foUEYIpPWXRbrW2sj3G/s400/1_2image-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Via:                                         <a href="http://www.us-foreign-policy-perspective.org/index.php?id=323" target="_blank">US Foreign Policy in Perspective</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /><br />   <br /><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYRIAN PARLIAMENTARY OBJECTIONS NECESSITATED THE ALLEGED CIA - AIDED 1949 COUP</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After having finally achieved actual independence from the FRENCH a few years before, SYRIA became a pioneer in the ARAB world by experiencing the first coup d'etat in its modern history. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since 1946 and the withdrawal of the FRENCH from SYRIAN shores, the army was slowly growing until it became the most prominent domestic institution. <a href="http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tahir-square-tales-egypt/2013/jul/30/egypt-nasser-el-sissi-coup-or-revolution/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">EGYPT would soon begin to follow</span></a>the same trend.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1949 Zaymiy, sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency, overthrew President Al-Quaatilii, who was exiled to EGYPT until his return later in the 50s. Al-Zaymiy's regime was to be short lived, leading to a constant and prolonged succession of regimes until the 1970s. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The coup, which failed to give the U.S. a stable ally in the Arab World, backfired, fueling anti-AMERICAN sentiment that lives on until today. Zayimy's coup is important as it ignited the eventual SYRIAN alignment with the SOVIET bloc, fostering a deep relationship with RUSSIA alive until today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. 1961 — THE FAILED PROJECT OF THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlJQLwUaHYKSwiGz5B3HLiMGy6OprU_r9nr66bkRvCJqImt2_r1obOMkoLeeSIRaZcS-gsF0FFEtqw0dovc5rzHuRYkJLPz5ibG8nwlc8_RrZ2IQyIjkpRUOhkXMdgmxfIPhJivAU-ZiK/s1600/1_3image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlJQLwUaHYKSwiGz5B3HLiMGy6OprU_r9nr66bkRvCJqImt2_r1obOMkoLeeSIRaZcS-gsF0FFEtqw0dovc5rzHuRYkJLPz5ibG8nwlc8_RrZ2IQyIjkpRUOhkXMdgmxfIPhJivAU-ZiK/s400/1_3image-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="attribution">Via:                                         <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&docid=Lvfn_VoR9xplAM&tbnid=anYJWW_hTgdDyM:&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Di%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dimages%26cd%3D%26docid%3DLvfn_VoR9xplAM%26tbnid%3DanYJWW_" target="_blank">AlJazeera</a>                                      </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The 1950s marked the rise of <a href="http://www.netplaces.com/middle-east-guide/egypt-heart-of-the-arab-world/nassers-pan-arabism.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Arab nationalism and Pan-Arab</span></a>sentiments in the region, guided by Nasser's formidable charisma and consolidation of power in EGYPT.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This regional movement affected much of SYRIA'S structure of government, solidifying the role of the army in daily affairs and emphasizing social cohesion among Arab neighbors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This culminated in a three-year project in 1958, the UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC. Through a series of shuttle-diplomacy meetings between Nasser and Damascus' members of parliament, EGYPT and SYRIA became one country under Cairo's control. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This proved short-lived, and relations between SYRIA and its regional neighbors never returned to be the same, along with <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/30269/fouad-ajami/the-end-of-pan-arabism" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">PAN-ARAB ideology</span></a>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. 1970 — HAFEZ AL-ASSAD'S TAKEOVER OF THE BA'ATH </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After the long succession of legislatures, Hafez Al-Asad, minister of defense, took over SYRIA'S civil government through a bloodless coup. The "Corrective Coup" was meant to reinvigorate the political momentum of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18582755" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Ba'ath Party</span></a> in SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Through a series of domestic structural and judicial reforms, Hafez Al-Asad consolidated power, made the party the sole de-facto political platform in the country, and expanded the party's base.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/jordan-civil.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Black September</span></a> soon followed a civil war between JORDAN'S Hashemite rulers and the PLO in an attempt to determine who would be the leader of the Palestinians in their struggle against ISRAEL. SYRIA aligned with Arafat's PLO, eventually leading to its expulsion from JORDAN and SYRIA'S complete isolation from its southern neighbor until these days.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. 1976 — CHANGING SIDES IN THE LEBANESE CIVIL WAR </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyYjnm_Etc05-TyMsNs8YqCD4NX1Nw2IcstUwvCSjAGiCrY_yzJ3cKXAKgo3a8sAm3x_7JkCdY_4x-Y_ZDsf3tyxXFGyg0qMd11kHdqGumwfAUfHDvNOzAYttZfrolc19Pcf31DfkQu0h/s1600/1_5image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyYjnm_Etc05-TyMsNs8YqCD4NX1Nw2IcstUwvCSjAGiCrY_yzJ3cKXAKgo3a8sAm3x_7JkCdY_4x-Y_ZDsf3tyxXFGyg0qMd11kHdqGumwfAUfHDvNOzAYttZfrolc19Pcf31DfkQu0h/s400/1_5image-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Via:                                         <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Foxhole_-_Lebanon_-_Beirut_-_July_1958.jpg" target="_blank">WikiMedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Initially, in an effort to push down Islamist movements within and outside SYRIA, the Ba'ath allied with the Maronite Christian establishment in LEBANON. Originally, <a href="http://www.loc.gov/law/help/lebanon-constitutional-law.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the French had established</span></a>a 6:5 Christian to Muslim and Druze ratio in LEBANON. The proportion did not reflect in any way the demographics and the constitution required the president to be Christian and the prime minister to be Muslim.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After Islamist threats to the Ba'ath were defeated within SYRIA, Assad switched camps in LEBANON, siding with Amal, the militia of the LEBANESE Shiites. They had lost faith in the head of the opposition, Jumblatt, and showed grave tensions with the <a href="http://prrn.mcgill.ca/research/papers/khashan_9404.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Palestinian community in Lebanon</span></a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By participating in the war, SYRIA established a prolonged relationship with militant Shiite groups in LEBANON that lives until these days, with Hezbollah. The war eventually ended with SYRIA'S occupation of LEBANON and the <a href="http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/lebanon/taif.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Taif agreement</span></a>, which changed the LEBANESE parliamentary ratio to 1:1 and enhanced Muslim prime ministerial powers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. 1980 — SIDING WITH IRAN </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjkpliyNbu3db8lgvvlwuOLUxJ4VV9aam_NlTYRIS9O8KPoPe_R0vBt2G7gxcz-uqOFs-8UHRB0jWJIW3-EhDcVM4PUGEseJ170mJMTzOV675eAr7T-g8QaPjGcUEAi2O6bRfFfoHOB0C/s1600/1_6image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjkpliyNbu3db8lgvvlwuOLUxJ4VV9aam_NlTYRIS9O8KPoPe_R0vBt2G7gxcz-uqOFs-8UHRB0jWJIW3-EhDcVM4PUGEseJ170mJMTzOV675eAr7T-g8QaPjGcUEAi2O6bRfFfoHOB0C/s400/1_6image-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="attribution">Via:                                         <a href="http://www.vosizneias.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/red41.jpg" target="_blank">vosizneias.com</a>                                      </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After a tumultuous decade in which Hafez Al-Assad had changed regional alignment with regards to the PLO, the Hashemites, and the Shiite political community, the Islamic Revolution took over IRAN and new internal Islamist movements began to rise within SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Assads, a Alawi family, were now facing pressure to establish a stronger Shiite identity in government. While the government had previously responded with <a href="http://middleeast.about.com/od/syria/f/hama-rules.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">a firm hand</span></a> to this type of influence, Assad decided to appease Shiite pressure, siding with IRAN against IRAQ'S Ba'ath in the IRAN-IRAQ war. In return, IRAN became a vehement supporter of a SYRIAN presence in Beirut, creating a Shiite crescent between Tehran, Damascus, and Hezbollah.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. 2005 — HARIRI'S DEATH AND SYRIA'S WITHDRAWAL FROM LEBANON </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbl2UB_3TWPAFztyRZsQInRBGvxzQXOMBow7dAItD-2hBDVkCX1lZ8p607fO85aaiDT3DBrpY4lXJNR7a3HQsljayzZTpPSLVn1gue7tFUur08ZxHw704bMOnwJk8jwdXpkWnfv8P4FYl/s1600/1_8image-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbl2UB_3TWPAFztyRZsQInRBGvxzQXOMBow7dAItD-2hBDVkCX1lZ8p607fO85aaiDT3DBrpY4lXJNR7a3HQsljayzZTpPSLVn1gue7tFUur08ZxHw704bMOnwJk8jwdXpkWnfv8P4FYl/s400/1_8image-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="attribution">Via:                                         <a href="http://s2.lemde.fr/image/2010/08/04/512x256/1395734_3_cf23_rafic-hariri-a-ete-assassine-en-fevrier-2005-a.jpg" target="_blank">Ya20.com</a>                                      </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2000, Bashar Al-Assad was literarily forced to take over the Ba'ath party, following his father Hafez Al Assad’s death. Originally Bashers’ older brother Basil Al Assad was groomed to step in the footsteps of Hafez Al Assad’s, but a fatal car accident forced Hafez Al Assad to recall Basher, the younger brother from the UK in order to prepare him for the presidency of SYRIA .</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Initially, his advent was seen as a one-time possibility for domestic reform and overture. However, this soon was proved to not be true. The SYRIAN army in fact pushed for a prolonged stay in LEBANON.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Things culminated in 2005 with Rafik Hariri's assassination. Hariri had been the president of multiple legislatures in LEBANON. Western-educated and coming from the business world, Hariri was credited with much of the post-war reconstruction of Beirut.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hariri was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4270601.stm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">killed by a bombing</span></a> in 2005. Allegedly, SYRIAN cells played a role in the assassination through Hezbollah. Following the bombing, international pressure for a SYRIAN withdrawal from LEBANON increased, ultimately leading to the long-awaited return of the army to Damascus' barracks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This event, like the ones above, has been at the core of SYRIA'S long-term positioning in the region. As the current crisis in SYRIA unwinds, it is important to keep in mind why SYRIA has developed such relations with RUSSIA, IRAN, Hezbollah, LEBANON, and most of its neighboring countries. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Via Policymic</span></div>

HISTORIC FACTS ABOUT SYRIA

HISTORIC FACTS ABOUT SYRIA

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