Lse Middle East Centre Podcasts

This is the first of our webinar series where we were joined by Jim Muir, veteran Middle East correspondent based in Beirut, where he began his career in the region in 1975. In this video linkup, he discussed the impact of the coronavirus on Lebanon, its uprising, and its future. Even before the coronavirus struck, Lebanon was in the grip of an existential crisis. On March 7th, it defaulted on its Eurobond debt servicing, for the first time ever. The "revolution" which erupted on 17 October 2019 accelerated a dire economic and financial crisis and challenged 30 years of incompetent sectarian governance. Hundreds of businesses have had to close, sending more jobless people onto the streets. The coronavirus may have given the new government a political breathing space, but it will aggravate further a crisis which has already destroyed the credibility of the country's banking system, always seen as its sacred spinal column. Jim Muir is a British journalist and BBC Middle East Correspondent. After taking a fi