The South Arab Security Zone is a part of West Asia administered by the United Nations (UN). It is made up of the southern halves of Iraq and Syria, as well as some of northern Arabia and all of former Jordan. These regions were previously part of The United Arab Kingdom in which the Hashemite dynasty reigned. General Carl von Horn, a distinguished Swedish officer with decades of experience in UN missions, has been put in charge of the Security Zone. During the Black Sand War, the vast majority of this area's political, economic, cultural, scientific and military leadership (including most of the Hashemites) were killed by radical Islamist agents, or executed by Anwar Sadat's troops. Similarly, most of its urban centres were reduced to rubble by indiscriminate bombardment, contaminated by chemical weapons, or both (as in the case of the Second Razing of Baghdad). United Nations peacekeepers, mostly holed up in their FOBs or patrolling refugee settlements, are the only form of legitimate authority; outside of their watch, the desert is filled to the brim with bandits, radical Islamists, armed extremists and an endless sea of assorted guerillas.