The Middle East faces economic chaos
Escalating conflict threatens to tip several countries over the brink
Just over 100 days after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel started a war in Gaza, the conflict is still escalating. On January 11th America and Britain started attacking Houthi strongholds in Yemen, after months of Houthi missile strikes on ships in the Red Sea. Five days later Israel fired its biggest targeted barrage yet into Lebanon. Its target is Hizbullah, a militant group backed by Iran.
A full-blown regional war has so far been avoided, largely because neither Iran nor America wants one. Yet the conflict’s economic consequences are already vast. Trade routes are blocked, disrupting global shipping and devastating local economies. The Middle East’s most productive industries are being battered. And in Lebanon and the West Bank, growing hardship threatens to spark even more violence.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "The fallout"
Finance & economics January 20th 2024
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