Arab MENA Countries: Vulnerabilities and Constraints Against Democracy on the Eve of the Global COVID-19 Crisis

Hussein Solomon holds a D.Litt et Phil (Political Science) from the University of South Africa. Currently he is Senior Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Free State. His previous appointments include being Executive Director of the International Institute of Islamic Studies (2009-2010); Professor and Director of the Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria (2000-2010), Research Manager at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (1998-2000), Senior Researcher: Institute for Security Studies (1996-1998) and Research Fellow: Centre for Southern African Studies, University of the Western Cape (1993-1995). In 2011, he was Visiting Professor at the Osaka School for International Public Policy (OSIPP).  Arno Tausch is currently Honorary Associate Professor of Economics, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary (since Fall Semester 2010) and adjunct professor (Universitaetsdozent) of politicalscience at the Department of Political Science, Innsbruck University, Austria (since 1988). He entered the Austrian Civil Service on January 1, 1992, and retired from active service on February 29, 2016. He served as an Austrian diplomat abroad and was attaché, and later counselor for labor and migration at the Austrian Embassy in Warsaw, 1992-1999. Since 1978, he has taught numerous regular courses in political science, economics, and sociology at universities in Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and the United States. He has authored or coauthored books and articles for major international publishers and journals, among them 22 books in English, 2 books in French, 8 books in German, and well over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and also numerous articles in the media of several countries. His publications also include a number of essays for leading economic and foreign policy global think tanks, and he is a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in Israel.

• 1. Setting the Scene.- 2. Failing States And Losing Sovereignty? Reflecting On The State And Politics In The Mena Region.- 3. Achievements And Deficits Of The Arab Mena Economies On Th Eve Of The Current Global Corona Tsunami.- 4. Arab Mena States And Value Change: What Happens When Economic Globalization Is More Rapid Than Cultural Globalisation.- 5. Beyond Patriarchy: Gender, Islam And The Mena Region.- 6. Sectarianism And The Politics Of Identity In The Mena Region.- 7. Political Islam In The Arab Mena Countries: The Evidence From The Arab Barometer (5) Data About The “Unword” Of Middle East Research.- 8. Overcoming The Environmental Challenge In The Mena Region.- 9. The Mena Region In The Face Of Covid-19.- 10. Conclusion.