In recent years, China’s engagement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been rapidly increasing. At least 17 MENA countries have signed agreements as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Meanwhile, in response to the COVID pandemic, Chinese vaccines have been secured by a number of countries across the region while China has promised aid to…
The Libya Stabilization Conference, hosted in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on October 21, 2021 is the first Libya-related international conference to take place inside the war-torn country since civil war broke out in 2014. According to the Libyan foreign minister, Najla al-Mangoush, the conference will focus on two tracks: the first is security and the second is economic recovery. The…
MENA countries have differed substantially in their reaction and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A regional comparison shows richer countries administering larger quantities of vaccines, relative to their population, than the non-oil exporting countries. Arab Barometer’s Wave VI, which concluded its third survey in March-April 2021, has revealed another troubling trend: vaccine hesitancy among large swaths of the MENA population….
