In October 2019, millions of Lebanese demonstrators took to the streets to protest widespread corruption amid deteriorating economic conditions. Since then, the economy has plunged into free fall, with simultaneous banking, currency, and public finance crises. 

Laura talks to Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, about what Lebanese citizens are experiencing, how the country’s economy got to the breaking point, and what meaningful reform would look like.

Programming note: This episode of The World Unpacked was taped one day before this week’s tragic set of explosions in Beirut, which killed more than 100 people and wounded thousands more. While the full details of the incident are still becoming known, we have added a brief addition from Maha about how this week’s tragic events are likely to impact the country’s already fragile state. 

Read more from Maha:

All Fall Down

At A Breaking Point

A Storm of Imperfection

Lebanon’s Economic Crisis: A Ten Point Action Plan for Avoiding a Lost Decade