Middle East Countries: Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan,

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen.

1. ISRAELI – PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/israeli-palestinian-conflict
Israel is the world’s only Jewish state, located just east of the Mediterranean
Sea. Palestinians, the Arab population that hails from the land Israel now
controls, refer to the territory as Palestine, and want to establish a state by that
name on all or part of the same land. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is over who
gets what land and how it’s controlled.
But for contemporary purposes we are going to start in 1948 when Israel
became an official state. Conflict ensued almost immediately as backlash by
the Arabs. The battle for who rightful land Israel is has been the backbone for
much of the fighting that still goes on today.
Though both Jews and Arab Muslims date their claims to the land back a
couple thousand years, the current political conflict began in the early 20th
century. Jews fleeing persecution in Europe wanted to establish a national
homeland in what was then an Arab- and Muslim-majority territory in the
Ottoman and later British Empire. The Arabs resisted, seeing the land as
rightfully theirs. An early United Nations plan to give each group part of the
land failed, and Israel and the surrounding Arab nations fought several wars
over the territory. Today’s lines largely reflect the outcomes of two of these
wars, one waged in 1948 and another in 1967.
The 1967 war is particularly important for today’s conflict, as it left Israel in
control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, two territories home to large
Palestinian populations.
Today, the West Bank is nominally controlled by the Palestinian Authority
and is under Israeli occupation. This comes in the form of Israeli troops, who
enforce Israeli security restrictions on Palestinian movement and activities, and
Israeli “settlers,” Jews who build ever-expanding communities in the West
Bank that effectively deny the land to Palestinians. Gaza is controlled by
Hamas, an Islamist fundamentalist party, and is under Israeli blockade but not
ground troop occupation.
 2. SYRIAN CIVIL WAR
https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/civil-war-syria
It began when a group of teenage boys spray painted "The people demand the
fall of the regime" on buildings in the city of Deraa.  These boys were arrested
and tortured, one of the boys was tortured to death.  More than seven years later,
over 500,000 Syrians have died and over 5 million of Syria's 22 million in total
population have fled the country.  Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad has led a
violent, authoritarian regime and has brutally defended his power in the wake of
revolution.  The civil war eventually became global with the inclusion of Russia
and Iran backing the Shia led Bashar Government.  The United States and
Europe backed the rebels who are almost all Sunni.  The Islamist militant group,
ISIS gained control of a lot of land in Syria using the civil war as a way to
further their cause.  Today, it seems that President al-Assad is going to be
victorious and remain in power with the help of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah
(Shia militant group).  The war is not over and ramifications will continue for
many years, but the outcome seems final.

3. BATTLE AGAINST ISIS

ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a Sunni terror group that has
owned large areas in Iraq and Syria over the last seven years. Born from al-
Queda in Iraq, ISIS began its mission in 2011 by taking over large territories in
Iraq and later Syria. Between 2011 and 2017 ISIS reeked havoc throughout the
Middle East and the world. ISIS has been know to be even too brutal for most
of the other militant, terror groups throughout the region. Hundreds of terror
attacks, be-headings, torture and other barbaric tactics were used by ISIS. In
2014, after ISIS took control of Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city, the groups
leader declared his territory a "caliphate" which means that he was declaring
that ISIS was now an official state the all Muslims must abide by.
ISIS ambition however led to their downfall. After reaching its peak in 2014
ISIS could not sustain its lofty goals.
ISIS began to use international terrorism and gather recruits throughout the
world with the use of propaganda and social media. ISIS has claimed or been
the motivation behind terror attacks throughout the world including the United
States, Europe and Africa.
The Iraqi government with much help from the Kurds and US air strikes
declared victory over ISIS in late 2017 and the extremest group now has only
about 4% of the land it had at its height. ISIS however, has not been defeated
and is now in a regrouping stage and the question becomes how to keep them
from re-emerging. History has repeated itself many times in this region with the
constant chaos, sectarian rivalries and lack of a cohesive plan from all parties it
makes is much easier for Islamist groups to come back when the time is right.
They flourish in the midst of mayhem and until hostility in the region is
contained threats of extremist groups will always be there. And unfortunately,
peace does not seem to be on deck anytime soon.

4. G20 NATIONS
The G20 is the international forum that brings together the world’s major
economies. Its members account for more than 80% of world GDP, 75% of
global trade and 60% of the population of the planet.
Participants
The G20 members are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa,
Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and
the European Union. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest.
How the G20 works
The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat: its agenda and activities
are established by the rotating Presidencies, in cooperation with the
membership.
A “Troika”, represented by the country that holds the Presidency, its
predecessor and its successor, works to ensure continuity within the G20.
The Troika countries are currently Saudi Arabia, Italy and Indonesia.

5. G8 NATIONS
G8 is a forum that brings together 8 global leaders to address international
issues and tackle the most pressing global challenges.
The G8 (Group of 8) is made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Russia, the USA and the UK.
 The Presidency of the G8 rotates each calendar year and the country holding
the G8 Presidency is responsible for hosting and organising the annual summit,
with a number of preparatory meetings leading up to it.
The summit is an opportunity for G8 leaders to have frank and open discussions
about the important global issues of the day.
What does the G8 do?
The G8 is a forum that provides the opportunity for its members to co-operate in
addressing global challenges. The standards it sets, commitments it makes and
steps it takes aim to drive prosperity and economic growth all over the world.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said that this year the G8 will return to its
roots, creating the right environment for frank and open discussions to promote
growth and address global economic problems. There will be a short declaration
aimed at holding G8 leaders to account and ensure that good intentions become
vital actions to advance growth and prosperity across the world.