the big picture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
http://www.merip.org/mer/mer208/hubbell.htm