All tagged COVID19

In today’s world, governments are more readily able to manipulate the public’s perceived reality, just as they would an audience in a play. Separating out the front- and backstage enables actors to give their audience the impression that they are meeting standards expected of them while behaving in an entirely different manner to achieve their underlying interests.

In a great irony, the COVID-19 pandemic might be a harbinger of peaceful times for Yemen. After more than 5 years of war and a severe humanitarian crisis, multiple ceasefire declarations by the Saudi-led coalition, plummeting oil prices, and a significant redirection of funds towards the domestic healthcare sector might finally convince the warring parties to agree to a durable peace accord.

The COVID-19 global pandemic is forcing countries the world over to rethink government spending — reallocating funds from defense and security sectors to other priority areas along public health and economic fronts to contain the spread of the pandemic and manage its effects on the economy. Despite the fiscal strain imposed on New Delhi by COVID-19, the crisis also presents a unique opportunity for India to enhance the country’s defense exports at a point when the country is striving towards self-sufficiency in the sector.

While UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ call for a global ceasefire on March 23rd was met with encouraging responses from many state and non-state actors, its effects on the ground are complex and difficult to predict. To gather insight on the potential effects of COVID-19 on the prospects for renewed peace efforts, Daniel Odin Shaw interviews Dr. Håvard Mokleiv Nygård, a Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo.

Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging assumptions held by many for years about the capacity and capability of their governments. Unfortunately, not all countries in Central Asia have taken the threat of the virus seriously. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have chosen to gamble that they can both weather the storm and minimize the damage to their power and economy.