Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball: Monitoring the Middle East

Right now, the world is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Forward-thinking is focused on the social and economic fallout from the pandemic, and the present priority is to stop the spread of the virus. However, although attentions are elsewhere, the geopolitical ball has not stopped rolling. While governments and the news cycle are distracted by this global health crisis, pre-existing conflicts and security issues have not disappeared. Some have even been further exacerbated by the COVID crisis. This new video series, hosted by Jamie Shea, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe, aims to shed light on issues that have been overshadowed by this crisis. The emphasis is on concerns that existed pre-crisis and will continue to exist after, with the potential to cause further volatility in the geopolitical fault lines of an already destabilised world.

In this week’s video, Jamie Shea, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe continues his discussion on instability in the Middle-East, as well as remarking on the diffusion of conflict in the Sahel. He also introduces the topic of trends in defence spending in light of a recent SIPRI report.