Category: Blogs

South Asia’s economic outlook in the era of COVID-19

By South Asia Center

Experts from the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center analyze the current efforts of these governments and the potential economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on South Asia:

Gulf partners could give Iran and the US a way out of their collision course

By Kirsten Fontenrose

With interests on both sides of the conflict and much to lose if it worsens, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the one organization that could be a hero here, kickstarting a chain reaction that arrives at de-escalation without any party losing face.

200,000 US deaths mooted even in best case; WHO urges long haul

By Atlantic Council

Deaths from coronavirus in the United States could reach 200,000 even in a best-case scenario, said The White House’s coronavirus coordinator. A hospital ship arrived in New York to ease pressure on local hospitals. The world faces a long-term battle with the virus, the World Health Organization warned.

Skoll World Forum Session: Using data for good in the fight against COVID-19

When: April 01, 2020 from 12:15-1:15pm EDT (-4 GMT) Where: Hosted on the Atlantic Council website What: Skoll World Forum Session “Using Data For Good in the Fight Against COVID-19” - Presented by the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center and Public Democracy.

Two historic votes for Ukraine

By Iuliia Mendel

In an emergency session as the country grapples with the coronavirus crisis, Ukraine's parliament has voted for two bills that will open the way to new financing from the IMF and other international partners.

Coronavirus hits Pakistan’s already-strained economy, and its most vulnerable

By Uzair Younus

During every major economic crisis in Pakistan—and there have been several of them—the wheels of the informal economy have chugged along. Today, the informal sector stands to lose the most, particularly the tens of millions of workers who rely on this cash-based sector to provide them with the bare-minimum income required to meet their daily needs.

Coronavirus comes to Sudan

Not yet one year into a historic political transition and in the midst of an economic collapse, Sudan’s future was already hanging in the balance. The addition of a national and global public health crisis now has the potential for a ‘make or break’ impact on the country.

Defusing Bangladesh’s COVID-19 time bomb

By Irfan Nooruddin and Rudabeh Shahid

Bangladesh has a health crisis in the making. The lack of preparation in the United States and Europe that has spawned the ongoing crisis there still exceeds the preparedness of developing countries such as Bangladesh, which will have to battle the COVID-19 pandemic with limited financial resources and a legacy of poor healthcare infrastructure, especially for the urban poor.

Coronavirus must not distract the world from Russia’s war in Ukraine

By Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze

The coronavirus crisis is creating unprecedented challenges for the international community, but existing security threats like the Russian attack on Ukraine must not disappear from the diplomatic agenda, argues Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

Coronavirus and transatlantic security: Implications for defense planning

By Christopher Skaluba and Ian Brzezinski

Once the West gains control over the coronavirus, NATO and its national defense establishments will have to conduct a hard-nosed assessment of the longer-term military implications and requirements that flow from the current reality—that pandemics can, within weeks, debilitate populations, sink economies, shutter borders, degrade military operations, and fragment unity among the closest of allies.