The Middle East: Between Covid-19, Conflicts, Jihadist Threat and Public Discontent

In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating effects on the Middle East, the region remained a zone of frenemies where geopolitical conflicts and rivalries, major power interventionism and jihadist operations persisted as dominant features. These variables, coupled with the costly human and economic consequences of the coronavirus, the prevalence of authoritarianism and growing public agitation for fundamental reforms in pursuit of the common good across the region, underpinned the Middle East’s long-term structural instability and volatility. The regional landscape has largely been defined by competing interests, which have impeded the quest for improving statesociety relations at the national level and promoting interstate cooperation at the regional level. Without changes in this paradigm, the Middle East is set to face more serious challenges as a source of major anxiety in global politics for the foreseeable future. Spanning over four sections, this article first discusses the impact of the COVID-19 contagion on the Middle East, then it examines various inter and intra-state conflicts and their attendant internal and external factors. The third section looks at the activities of jihadist groups in the region, particularly those of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS), while the final section details public unrest in different parts of the Middle East on account of poor governance, endemic corruption as well as the lack of fundamental rights and freedom.