BY DANIEL WOODBURN AND NATOSHA HODUSKI The shock of the August 2020 Beirut port explosion tearing through the city is indelibly marked in the minds of Lebanese citizens. It resulted in 200 fatalities, 6000 injured, over 300,000 people made homeless, and caused an estimated $15 billion USD in property damages. As shocking as the events […]
Author Archives: Natalie Fiertz
A Thawing Conflict Brings a Reversal of Fortune in Armenia
- Thursday, 20 May 2021 17:35
- 0 Comments
BY PATRICIA TAFT NASRI In the 2021 Fragile States Index, among the countries that experienced the greatest increases in fragility, issues of group-based identity and historical grievances combined to give rise to instability. This was certainly true in the United States, where years of partisan politics have turned former political adversaries into political enemies, and […]
The Shattering of Abiymania
- Thursday, 20 May 2021 17:31
- 0 Comments
BY NATALIE FIERTZ In 2020, Ethiopia’s latent fragilities exploded in a complex array of conflicts along pre-existing fault lines across the country. The previous year had seen the lowest level of reported fatalities in five years1 and in October Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, capping the widespread praise – known […]
Rising Authoritarianism in El Salvador: What Happens After the Crisis
- Thursday, 20 May 2021 17:20
- 0 Comments
BY KATHLEEN SMITH Even as COVID-19 struck, the very popular new El Salvadorian president, Nayib Bukele, was taking a hardline approach to dealing with a raging gang violence problem, and it seemed to be working. In 2018, the intentional homicide rate was the worst in the world at 52 per 100,000 people.1 By the end […]
COVID and Political Extremism in Spain and Germany: Two Different Paths
- Thursday, 20 May 2021 17:14
- 0 Comments
BY DANIELLE BATTERMAN As the Syria refugee crisis escalated in 2015, an incipient movement of right-wing nationalism gained traction across Europe, including Germany. Spain, however, appeared relatively immune, until 2017 and the turmoil surrounding Catalonia’s push for autonomy. Then, with the onset of the pandemic, far right groups in both countries sought to capitalize, Vox […]