Middle East Notes and Comment: Covid-19 Splits the Middle East

Covid-19 Splits the Middle East

Like much of the world, the Middle East has navigated Covid-19 better than many initially had feared. Infection curves have spiked and flattened and then spiked again, but they have not collapsed medical systems. Economies have not crumbled, and governments have endured. Compared to predictions of a year ago, the Middle East is in very good shape.

Read Jon Alterman's commentary on the CSIS website.

From the Middle East Program

New Analysis

Natasha Hall and Will Todman published a brief on lessons learned from a decade of humanitarian operations in Syria, arguing that Syria's experience reveals the need for donors to increase efforts to support and protect local humanitarian workers in particular. This brief was written in partnership with the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda.

Will published a report for the Geneva Centre for Security and Policy on how to support Syrian refugees amidst Lebanon's crises. Will argues that the United States is not capitalizing on its potential influence on the refugee file in Lebanon.

Will also published a commentary with Anna McCaffrey from CSIS's Global Health Policy Center on navigating collapse in Lebanon's Covid-19 response.

Babel: Translating the Middle East

In our most recent episode of Babel, Jon talked with Dr. Bessma Momani about the recent controversy over former Crown Prince Hamzeh and the government's concerns over public discontent.

In another episode, Jon spoke with Jessica Obeid, a member of the CSIS Sustainable States Working Group, about the Lebanese power sector and what its shortcomings tell us about broader fissures in Arab society.

We also released two new mezze episodes: one on the push for a baby boom in Iran and one on doctors leaving Egypt en masse.

Ambassador Wendy Sherman was confirmed as deputy secretary of state this month. Listen to our 2019 episode with her, when she talked with Jon about U.S.-Iran negotiations and her experiences negotiating the JCPOA.

Other

Natasha joined War on the Rocks for their Warcast podcast to discuss recent events in Jordan and how they fit into the broader scope of Jordanian politics.

In the News

On China's strategy for the Middle East, Jon told L'Express "its approach is above all economic, it invests and avoids confrontation in the region." (04/12/21)

"The security threat posed by Iran is one area where the Israelis and Americans see eye to eye. The question of what you do about it diplomatically is where there are differences," said Jon in a Wall Street Journal article about Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's trip to Israel. (04/09/21).

Natasha also spoke to BBC World Business Report about funding economic recovery in Syria. "The EU has already stated multiple times that there will be no construction without a political transition,"said Natasha. (03/29/21)

Politico 's Global Transitions newsletter mentioned the Babel episode "Syria's Decade of Tragedy" as an episode worth listening to. (03/24/21)