This is also cross-posted to the Real Arabic Podcast’s website. In this podcast episode, Amer translates and discusses the first half of the article: The Impact of the Russia/Ukraine Conflict on MENA Countries. Here are the opening few paragraphs:

The MENA region has been facing multiple and complex crises related to economic decline, internal disputes, climate change, natural disasters, diseases, and conflicts that have experienced a worsening due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The International Federation of Red Cross estimates over 55 million people across the region are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Some MENA nations have close economic ties to Russia and Ukraine as trading partners. As a result, the impact of the crisis will considerably affect MENA economies, and, tragically, they may have a cascading detrimental influence on the region's food security and welfare. This is on top of COVID-19, supply chain disruption, and country-specific domestic issues. The conflict in Ukraine intensifies the impact of this pre-existing crisis and makes countries more vulnerable.

Schematically, the invasion of Ukraine is impacting the MENA region through three different channels: food price shocks (especially wheat), humanitarian deviation of funds, and oil and gas price hikes.

Continue reading here: The Impact of the Russia/Ukraine Conflict on MENA Countries.