Il lancio di programmi di vaccinazione negli Stati Uniti, nel Regno Unito e nell'UE negli ultimi giorni segna i primi passi verso la fine della pandemia globale di COVID-19. Molti paesi hanno anche avviato programmi alternativi basati sul proprio vaccino, come Russia e Cina.

I prossimi passi vedranno l'allentamento delle restrizioni con l'aumento dei tassi di vaccinazione, e come tale c'è un'aspettativa di ripresa economica con l'apertura dei paesi. Tuttavia, in molti paesi l'impatto positivo può essere limitato. È probabile che il processo di vaccinazione sia piuttosto impegnativo e complesso per molti paesi poiché lottano per raggiungere i tassi di vaccinazione target in linea con i paesi più grandi e più organizzati. Ciò porterà a uno svantaggio economico comparativo e aprirà la porta a un mercato nero per il vaccino sfruttato dai gruppi criminali, poiché alcuni governi non hanno l'infrastruttura sottostante per distribuire in modo efficiente il vaccino.

As new waves of COVID-19 are hitting around the world, Jordan is facing one of the toughest challenges. While there was a recent change in government, there are still yet to be any positive signs that there is a new capacity to deal with any of the critical situations the country faces by taking a new, more effective approach. 

The new government should have been built based on crisis management capabilities, but instead it is a traditional bureaucratic way that is historically ineffective in dealing with the challenges that Jordan faces. This is particularly interesting given the Royal Designation Letter, which highlighted the need to focus on and face the major challenges created by COVID-19.

For many years, I have dedicated part of my studies to the issues of intercultural conflict management, as it has always been as important as conflict management itself. In conflict management, latent conflict is considered the riskiest, as it is hidden as it grows, becoming stronger and spreading its roots before it comes to the surface through complex and deep issues that need to be addressed.

Controversy around publishing images of the Prophet was a particular part of my studies for many years. Approaching this issue as an outsider was very interesting, and trying to understand the dynamics of how the issue could lead to open conflict. In a published paper, “Between Sanctity and Liberty”, I tried to analyse the issues from a different point of view, highlighting most of the recent incidents related to the conflict from the assassination of the American Ambassador in Libya John Stevens, to the Danish cartoons, and, of course, Charlie Hebdo.

The incident at the Port of Beirut this week cannot be considered as just another disaster, like many others that occur daily in the Middle East. Not only because of the loss of life, damage and economic impact, but also for the other consequences that the incident will lead to. 

The accident occurred at a very particular and delicate point in the history of Lebanon. The country is in the grips of an economic crisis, as a consequence of a policy of isolation and sanctions imposed by international actors, primarily the United States, targeted at draining the financial resources of Hezbollah. Prior to the explosions at the Port this week, the most important problem facing the Lebanese government was the economic crisis and its potential for social and political instability. The situation on the ground in Lebanon over the last has been dominated by growing discontent amongst the population as a result of an ongoing lack of essential services and development opportunities, along with an increasing assumption of corruption amongst the political class.