This special issue of POMEPS STUDIES collects twenty contributions from a wide range of young scholars writing from diverse perspectives, which collectively offer a fascinating overview of a region whose governance failures, economic inequalities and societal resilience were all suddenly thrown into sharp relief.
Introduction: The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa
Marc Lynch
Robert Kubinec
The Securitization of the Coronavirus Crisis in the Middle East
Adam Hoffmann
Alex Thurston
Protecting Refugees in the Middle East from Coronavirus: A Fight against Two Reinforcing Contagions
Justin Schon
The United Nations Ceasefire Appeal and MENA Conflict Hotspots
Ruth Hanau Santini
Guy Burton
Coronavirus in the Gulf Imperils National Ambitions and Tests National Unity
Kristin Diwan
Elham Fakhro
Authoritarian Exploitation of COVID-19 in the GCC
Matthew Hedges
Small states response to COVID-19: View from the UAE
Diana Galeeva
How Robust is the Authoritarian Social Contract? Social Dissent during Iran’s COVID-19 Outbreak
Sally Sharif
Israel: Politics and Identity in Coronavirus times
Ehud Eiran
A Resurgent Netanyahu? The Political and Constitutional Effects of COVID-19 in Israel
Brent Sasley
COVID in the Maghreb: Responses and Impacts
Yasmina Abouzzohour
Framing Nationalism in times of a pandemic: The Case of Morocco
Yasmine Zarhloule
Resilient Authoritarianism And Global Pandemics: Challenges In Egypt At The Time Of COVID-19
Lucia Ardovini
COVID-19: Lebanon’s Experience and Response
Carla Abdo-Katsipis
Drastic Measures: Coercive Enforcement and Economic Effects of Pandemic Suppression in Jordan
Allison Spencer Hartnett, Ezzeldeen al-Natour, Laith al-Ajlouni
Transparency and repression in Jordan’s response to COVID-19
Elizabeth Parker-Magyar
The Impact of Syria’s Fragmentation on COVID-19 Response
Jesse Marks
Government, De Facto Authority and Rebel Governance in Times of COVID-19: The Case of Yemen
Eleonora Ardemagni