Covid and Mediterranean Basin

The race to battle Covid-19 and secure personal protective equipment, ventilators and vaccines, aggravated by both nationalist monopolistic policies and the rise of new variant strains, has highlighted the vital need for global cooperation. According to Anis Germani, medical doctor based in Beirut, and Rania Masri, Ph.D. and political ecologist, current transnational policies exacerbate existing disparities across Mediterranean states in a context where the European Union is struggling to meet its own healthcare-related needs. They also state that this race burdens many countries in North Africa and the Near East with economic hardships and internal strife.