1. Overview of the Coronavirus Crisis
Since the Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, spread outside of China in January 2020 it
quickly turned into a global crisis of unprecedented scale, taking a high toll on human life and
laying baring the fragility of battle-hardened economies that had not seen a shock alike since
the financial crisis in 2009. Travel restrictions, cancelled events, closures, and curfews put a
severe strain on Middle Eastern economies that were already seeing a slow-down in oil demand
and a free fall in oil prices. The crisis wreaked havoc on economic and societal levels, producing
supply, demand, and asset-side shocks. Most severely feeling the impact of the uncontrollable
expansion of the infectious disease in the Arabian Peninsula are failed states, conflict regions,
poverty-stricken dense societies, and oil-dependent economies of the Gulf region.
Yazar
