Syria

At the center of ongoing protests and uproar in the Middle East, iconic and historical public spaces hold political clout.

Aleppo, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, is undergoing a conservation project that includes the restoration of hundreds of houses, a new park, and rebuilding city streets and services.

Over the last 50 years, preservation in Syria focused on restoring architecturally significant buildings, "sometimes destroyed the communities around them," writes Nicolai Ouroussoff. A plaza in Aleppo represents a change in strategy.

Water projects and diversion efforts in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria are draining the marshlands near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, known as the 'Fertile Crescent'.

Water policies in Syria and Turkey are draining the Euphrates River dry, and neighboring Iraq is feeling all the hurt from it.