Asia is the world's largest continent, home to 3/5 of the global population and extremely diverse cultures. It is also the center of many major world religions. Countries in Asia vary greatly in their levels of development, with Japan having a stable democracy and large economy, while Bangladesh has struggled with political instability. The Middle East is geographically ambiguous but includes culturally Arab, Persian, and mixed ethnic regions. It was the site of early civilizations and once hosted a large Islamic empire, though many countries are now authoritarian and dependent on natural resources. Misconceptions exist about the uniformity of the region.

1. Politics and Culture of Asia and the Middle East September 8th, 2010

2. Human Development Index

3. Asia: the world’s largest continent 17,350,000 miles 3/5 world population Dead Sea (lowest point) Mt. Everest (highest point) Extremely diverse in culture, customs, beliefs, development and civilization. Center of most major world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism) Among the oldest civilizations in the world

4. Comparison of Asian Countries Japan: stable democracy since 1947 and 2nd largest economy in the World with GDP of $4.167 trillion Bangladesh: plagued by coup d’etats since its birth in 1971 and GDP of $280 billion

5. Developing Countries of Southeast Asia Cambodia Myanmar Laos Indonesia Vietnam

6. Countries of Asia Continued Nepal Bangladesh Bhutan Afghanistan India Pakistan

8. Middle East Continued After fall of Ottoman Empire many were colonized by the British and French British (From Iraq to Egypt French (Mediterranean areas including Syria and Lebanon) After independence found themselves geograpically in the middle of Cold-War battle for influence between USSR and USA. Most are rich in Natural Resources (curse and blessing?) Most Middle Eastern countries suffer from authoritarian regimesand corruption. While the Middle East has human development problems, many are highly developed (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar)

9. Misconceptions About the Middle East Women have no rights Backward People All Desert All Muslim All Arab

10. Developing Countries of The Middle East Yemen Syria Iraq

11. Roots of Failure in Afghanistan

12. India Held Back

13. Free at Last?