Comprehensive information and links about Syriana

Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan. Like Gaghan's screenplay for focuses on the influence of the oil industry, whose political, economic, legal, and social effects are experienced by a CIA operative (George Clooney), an energy analyst (Matt Damon), an attorney (Jeffrey Wright), and a young unemployed Pakistani immigrant in an unnamed Persian Gulf emirate (Mazhar Munir).

Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir, . George Clooney was one of the film's executive producers.

In his review, film critic Roger Ebert suggests that the film is an example of hyperlink cinema.

As of February 12, 2006, the film grossed a total of 48.7 million dollars in the domestic Box Office.

Energy giant Connex once had control of key Mideast oil fields in an unnamed country ruled by the al-Subaai family. However, the country's foreign minister, Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig) has granted natural-gas drilling rights to a Chinese company. Nasir's move greatly upsets the American oil industry and government. Meanwhile Killen, a smaller oil company, has won the drilling rights to key oil fields in Kazakhstan. Connex has lost production capacity and needs the Kazakh oil field to make up for it; to that end, they initiate a merger with Killen. Following an historic but shadowy merger, Connex-Killen becomes the fifth largest oil company in the world. American anti-trust regulators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) have some misgivings about the deal.

The Washington law firm headed by Dean Whiting (Christopher PlummerSyriana is hired to smooth the way, and the taciturn Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey WrightSyriana is assigned. Whiting explains that suspicions of bribing foreign officials must be confronted, satisfying the DOJ that the parties in the merger have exercised due diligence in investigating any past crimes. It is clear, however, that Whiting expects that Holiday will make sure that no reasons are found to block the merger.

Bryan Woodman (Matt DamonSyriana is an energy analyst based in Switzerland. Woodman's supervisor directs him to attend a private party hosted by the emir at his estate in Marbella, Spain, to offer his company's analytical services. Woodman is unwilling, because it will be his son's birthday, but he is told to take his family with him to enjoy the party. At the party, Woodman is prevented from speaking directly with the emir, who is busy showing off the estate's remotely controlled electronic systems to the Chinese oil executives. They try to control the swimming pool's lighting system, but it's not working properly.

Two of the emir's men ask Woodman to explain his proposal while standing in the hallway, in front of other guests, which makes Woodman very uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Woodman's elder son, who seems slightly ill-at-ease with the other children at the party, is encouraged to jump into the pool to play a game. The electrical problem results in the boy's electrocution and death.

In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir grants Woodman's company key oil interests worth USD 75 million and invites Woodman to become his economic advisor. Prince Nasir confides in Woodman that all is not as it appears. As it turns out, the Prince desires to break away from American dependence and utilize his nation's oil profits to introduce democratic reforms to his country. In contrast to the reactionary, fundamentalist, status quo of his father's government (which has been supported by American interests), Prince Nasir is dedicated to the idea of progressive reform. He informs Woodman that he wants to improve the lives of his people, advance the status of women, and create a parliamentary system on western lines — but the U.S. stands in the way. Woodman learns of Nasir's plans for democratic reform, which correspond to his assessment of the country's interests. Nasir hopes to succeed his father the emir, but his younger brother, happy with his playboy life and happy to continue the status quo, is chosen. Nasir arranges a military coup, but on the verge of its execution, American officials arrange an attack on his vehicle by a Predator-drone- weapon system.

Robert Barnes (George ClooneySyriana is a veteran CIA field operative who is being used by the CIA to stop Middle Eastern illegal arms trafficking. While on an assignment in Tehran to assassinate two arms dealers, Barnes notes that one of two Stinger missiles that were supposed to have been destroyed in the explosion that killed the two Iranian traffickers was given to an Arab who did not speak Farsi. After Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos drawing attention to the theft of the second missile, Barnes is proposed for a desk job, but as a field agent he is unaccustomed to the political discretion required, quickly embarrasses the wrong person by speaking his mind, and is sent back to field work — specifically arranging the assassination of Prince Nasir. Barnes travels to Lebanon and seeks safe passage from a Hezbollah imam, who is apparently unaware of his CIA role. Barnes then contacts a mercenary with whom he has worked before, named Mussawi, whom Barnes addresses as "Jimmy," to his annoyance. Barnes hires Mussawi to murder Nasir. But Barnes's contact turns out to be an Iranian agent, who has Barnes kidnapped. Mussawi tortures Barnes, seeking information about the Tehran assassination. With Barnes's execution seeming certain, he is saved by the Hezbollah imam, who interrupts Mussawi and frees Barnes. The CIA scapegoats Barnes on his return to headquarters, despite his record as a loyal and dedicated agent. Barnes eventually learns what is behind his mistreatment, and attempts to warn Prince Nasir before he is assassinated.

Connex migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan (Shahid Ahmed) and his son Wasim (Mazhar Munir) are seen boarding a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery. When they arrive, they find out that they have been laid off due to the new Chinese company which has outbid Connex. Since the company has provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of poverty and deportation due to their unemployed status. Saleem, the father, appears to be rooted in the past and cannot bring himself to deal with the situation. His son Wasim desperately searches for work. The migrant workers are ordered to report to the immigration bureau or face deportation and Saleem and Wasim wait in a long line, which is overseen by heavily armed guards. A public address system warns those waiting to keep silent. An elderly man complains about the heat, and when Ahmed tries to warn him not to talk, it is Ahmed and Wasim who are beaten with truncheons by the guards. During a soccer match, Wasim meets a charismatic Muslim fundamentalist cleric and starts down a path that will eventually leads him into making a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen LNG tanker (similar to the U.S.S. Cole attack). The explosive device used in the attack appears to be the shaped-charge explosive from the missile that Robert Barnes lost in Iran.

revolves around a subtext of father-son relationships: Bryan Woodman and his two sons, the eldest of whom is killed in the emir's swimming pool; the emir and his pair of sons competing for succession; Saleem Ahmed Khan and his son Wasim, who comes to embrace Islamic fundamentalism; the lawyer Bennett Holiday and his alcoholic father; and Robert Barnes and his high school son who wants a "normal" life.

Family versus politics

There are many apparent conflicts in the movie between personal family lives and politics, mainly in terms of morality.

Blood for oil

The U.S. is willing to kill reformists to ensure chaos in the Middle East and control of the oil.

Title

The movie's title is somewhat ambiguous. Some have suggested that it comes from as an allusion to the necessary state of peace between Syria and the U.S. as it relates to the oil business. In a December 2005 interview, Baer told NPR that the title is a metaphor for foreign intervention in the Middle East, referring to post-World War II think tank strategic studies for the creation of an artificial state (such as Iraq, created from the elements of the former Ottoman Empire) that would ensure continued western access to crude oil. From the movie's website [1]: "'Syriana' is a very real term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East...".

has been criticised because it is based on the story of a spy (falsely) accused of attempting to assassinate Saddam Hussein, but in the movie the Hussein figure who Clooney is to assassinate is a benevolent, liberal prince. Amir Taheri called it "ethno-centrism gone wild. Its message is: The Arabs are nothing, not even self-motivated terrorists, but mere puppets manipulated by us in the omnipotent US!"[2] Taheri's opinion of the film, however, is not surprising, considering his neoconservative political views. Richard Cohen calls its portrayals of terrorists, the CIA, oil companies, and the US government "crude cliches"[3].

-- Note:

dlAmir Taheri works for Benador Associates (See sourcewatch[4]) a known neoconservative propaganda (PR) firm. His review also has two titles, Hollywood Arabs[5] or The Despicable Self-Loathing Preached By 'Syriana'[6](All caps removed). Self-Loathing is quite an inflammatory term."You want to know what the business world thinks of you? We think 100 years ago you were living out here in tents in the desert chopping each others heads off and that’s exactly where you are going to be in another hundred. So, yes, on behalf of my firm I accept your money." - Bryan Woodman to Prince Nasir."Corruption charges. Corruption? Corruption ain't nothing more than government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are here in the white-hot center of things instead of fighting each other for scraps of meat out there in the streets. Corruption... is why we win." - Danny D to Bennett"He's barely qualified to run a brothel, much less a country!" - Prince Nasir speaking about his brother, to his fatherMID Foundation The MID Foundation provided cultural consultancy and dialect coaching for the production of Syriana.