We're joined by Jasmine El-Gamal for Episode 131 of The Beirut Banyan, and we discuss the coronavirus pandemic, its impact on recent protests that swept the region and the continued demands for economic reform and political change.

Jasmine takes us back to the beginning of her political career as a translator and cultural advisor for the US Army following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. She reflects on the lessons she took from her post as a Middle East advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy from 2008-2013 and as Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to three consecutive Under Secretaries of Defense for Policy from 2013-2015.

Jasmine M. El-Gamal is a nonresident senior fellow with the Middle East program at the Atlantic Council.

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Music by Marc Codsi. Graphics by Sara Tarhini.