The simple question “Where is Syria?” can lead to a whole world of related questions. It implies that the questioner does not know physical details about the Middle East and it could possibly imply they are unaware of the geo-political situation there, as well as socio-historical reasons for the civil war there.
Ted-Ed made a very informative site about the situation in Syria.
Geoliteracy
I believe that being interested in where places/cities/countries are, is one of the first steps in becoming a geo-literate ‘global citizen’. But how do we teach this most effectively to our students? 
When I was a kid, I was given endless Geography quizzes at school, and to be honest, I quite enjoyed them. Now, as a teacher and Head of Department, I have come to the conclusion that Geography quizzes still have a role to play, but only as a fun activity, a challenge or a game. I see them in addition to many other strategies of increasing students’ Geographic literacy.
Geographic literacy is a very important concept which goes so much further than ‘knowing where countries are’. This is a must-see video, created by the National Geographic Societies on Geo-literacy (4 minutes):