Middle East Notes and Comment: Covid-19 Hasn't Crushed the Middle East ... Yet

November 18, 2020

Covid-19 Hasn't Crushed the Middle East . . . Yet

The Middle East is being hit hard by Covid-19 but, up to now, its regimes have not. Governmental responses to the virus have varied, from draconian to technocratic to laissez-faire, and none sparked a major backlash. Case numbers are now rising sharply, and once again, there is no significant backlash.

Much is unknown about the virus, yet what is becoming clear is that caseloads’ rise and fall seems not to drive political unrest, regardless of either mortality or economic impact. As the Middle East undergoes a punishing second wave of infections, though, that premise will be tested.
Read Jon Alterman's commentary on the CSIS website.

From the Middle East Program

In "Green Initiatives on the Periphery," the CSIS Middle East Program is analyzing the conditions that lead to the success or failure of efforts to deliver services in a sustainable and environmentally conscious way in the Arab World. Our research focuses on how different kinds of local and national political support and international financing contribute to successful local and decentralized environmental initiatives.

We are proud to announce the formation of an Advisory Board and a Working Group composed of experts in their fields who will help guide our research over the course of the project.

Babel: Translating the Middle East

In the most recent episode of Babel, Jon spoke with Chatham House's Sanam Vakil about how Iran is thinking about the Biden presidency.

In another episode, Hassan Barari, a professor at the University of Jordan, spoke about how the Middle East is viewing the U.S. election.

The editor-in-chief of Newlines Magazine, Hassan Hassan, joined Jon for an episode on the rise of Iraq's Shi'ite militias and the late Hisham al-Hashimi's research.

We also released a mezze episode on the use of Arabic on Istanbul's storefronts and another mezze episode about K-pop in the Gulf.

<Events

Jon joined a panel hosted by the Middle East Institute on "U.S. and Iranian Strategies for a Biden Administration" on November 17 with copanelists Hannah Kaviani from Radio Farda and Behnam Ben Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and moderator Alex Vatanka from MEI.

On November 13, Steve Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center, Jake Kurtzer from the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda, and Jon hosted a discussion with U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea. Ambassador Shea spoke on the evolving humanitarian, health, economic, and political crises in Lebanon. Watch the event back here or read the transcript. Ambassador Shea and Jon also joined Steve Morrison for an episode of "Coronavirus Crisis Update" to discuss Covid-19 in Lebanon.

On November 9, Natasha Hall spoke at the 5th EU-Arab World Summit on a panel with Russian International Affairs Council's Andrey Kortunov and Konstantinos Filis, from the Institute of International Relations, on a panel titled "Syria: Where Do We Go From Here?"

Other

We re-designed our program page and we welcome any feedback you may have on how to continue improving it.

In the News

Our event with Ambassador Dorothy Shea was quoted in several news outlets, included Reuters, the Media Line, and Asharq Al-awast.

Will Todman told L'Orient-Le Jour that we shouldn't expect a significant change on Syria with the Biden administration, who will "likely uphold many of the fundamentals of U.S. foreign policy." (11/14/20).

Jon spoke to U.S. News and World Report about how "Trump has provided the world a clear lesson in the idea that partnering with the U.S. can't be taken for granted, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for the Biden administration." (11/11/20).

Jon told Reuters that because many members of the Biden administration are known quantities, "that gives the president a huge multiplier effect, because it's my view that a Biden administration would be much, much better at marshaling a whole-of-government approach and coordinating the entire government behind the president's actions. (11/7/20).