In a matter of weeks, the United States went from a few cases of COVID-19 to leading the world is new cases, surpassing China and Italy. Meanwhile, concern for how the rest of the world manages its response to the global pandemic has been overshadowed.

Sadly, the spread of the coronavirus has not undercut war and militarism. In fact, he preexisting regional tensions and incidents of state violence have left myriad populations far more vulnerable to COVID-19 than they would have otherwise been.

Khury Petersen-Smith, Middle East fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, joined Rising Up With Sonali to discuss how wars, sanctions, and militarism are making the coronavirus crisis worse.

Watch the original interview at Rising Up With Sonali.

Khury Petersen-Smith is the Middle East Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Follow him on Twitter @kpYES.

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