Our topic for this two-part podcast is a snapshot of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in East Asia, the South East Asia region, South Asia and the Middle East. In this episode, we will be looking at the Middle East instead and some of the areas we will be focusing on including the diplomatic developments between countries in the region with the US over trade and exports, the fall of oil prices in the Gulf Cooperation Council region (or GCC for short), Palestinian and Israelian cooperation in their efforts to contain the coronavirus, and also looking closer at regions like Yemen, riddled with years of intrastate wars and refugee crises, and how they are coping under the pressures of the pandemic.