Syria. The name in most people’s minds brings up exotic images of a barren wasteland, covered in desert and strange rock formations a la George Lucas’ Tatooine. The truth however, is far different. The country is far from barren, producing enough food to not only be generally self-sustaining, but to be a significant exporter of a variety of different foods, among them cotton, wheat, and beets.
So what does that mean for us, the common American? The answer is: maybe a lot, maybe not much. The key to this is seeing how everything is connected. So how is Syria connected to your dinner table?
It starts, of course, with the dollar. One of the ways that the value of the dollar is decided is by how many different countries use the dollar for a trade standard, and thereby to measure debt.
Syria currently has a fairly massive federal debt, primarily to countries in the EU. Let’s take Poland for example, a country to which Syria owes an amount roughly to a quarter of Syria’s GDP. These countries are currently trading using the dollar.The conflict in Syria means a lot for the Syrian government’s ability to pay its debts on time. This is particularly bad timing for this to happen, for one clear reason: Europe is in trouble. The federation is looking at climbing debt and rising unemployment, with Greece leading the pack in trouble, but with many other countries, Poland included, not far behind.
With one more country falling behind, this is another added burden on a European and thereby world economy that isn’t ready to handle it. And while we may not live in Europe, we cannot untangle our economy from the worlds. The less the Syrian people are putting on the table of Polish families, the more likely it becomes that we will have difficulty putting food on our own tables.
WE
Sources: http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?v=94
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