Foreword

Wars and conflicts, long embedded in the fabric of human history, continue to shape the political, social, and economic trajectories of nations in profound ways. In the post-pandemic era, rising geopolitical fragmentation and renewed regional tensions have intensified the urgency of understanding the enduring legacies of conflict. War-torn countries today face deeply interconnected challenges, including economic stagnation, collapsing livelihoods, and widening developmental disparities. These conditions are compounded by widespread poverty, food insecurity, displacement, and the erosion of essential services such as education and healthcare. Fragile institutions, fiscal instability, and persistent inequality further entrench cycles of vulnerability, constraining recovery and long-term resilience. Yet amid these adversities, pathways to renewal remain, anchored in the prospects of peace and effective governance, and in the untapped potential of human and natural resources.

The Israel–Palestine conflict, rooted in the late nineteenth century and shaped by wars, displacement, and unresolved claims to self-determination, has evolved through repeated cycles of violence and fragile peace efforts. Key milestones, including uprisings, partial accords, and political divisions—particularly following Hamas’s control of Gaza—have hindered a durable resolution. Recent escalations, especially since 2023, have caused extensive destruction, mass displacement, and a severe humanitarian crisis, with continued instability despite a fragile ceasefire in place by late 2025. The chapter on the Israel–Palestine conflict examines the socioeconomic crises arising from prolonged conflict amid the pandemic and climate crisis in the West Bank, Gaza, and the territories Palestine has lost since the establishment of Israel. It also explores the combined impacts on key sectors such as agriculture, education, energy, telecommunications, and health, as well as cross-cutting issues including international aid, water scarcity, gender-based violence, and the health of children and women.

The Tigray conflict in Ethiopia stems from the 2020–2022 civil war and the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended active fighting but left key issues unresolved, including power-sharing, disarmament, and territorial control. Today, fears of renewed conflict amid fragile peace and rising political tensions between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigrayan authorities have re-emerged, alongside renewed internal clashes between the TPLF and the federally appointed interim administration. The situation is further complicated by Eritrea’s reported involvement and shifting regional alignments, which increase the risk of wider instability and worsen humanitarian conditions across Tigray and the Horn of Africa. The chapter on the Tigray region discusses the destruction of infrastructure, political fragmentation, casualties, displacement, livelihood crises, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation driven by the conflict and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. It further explores sectoral impacts and cross-cutting challenges shaped by intersecting pressures of conflict, pandemic disruption, and climate stress.

Iraq has endured more than four decades of near-continuous war, sanctions, and political upheaval, from the Iran–Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that dismantled the Ba’athist state and fundamentally reshaped its political order. In the aftermath, the rise and defeat of ISIS left a fragmented security landscape marked by insurgency, weak governance, and competing militias, including Iran-aligned groups embedded within state structures, while the country has increasingly become a theatre of regional proxy rivalries involving the United States, Iran, Turkey, and Kurdish actors. In this broader context of instability and shifting regional tensions, Iraq continues to face recurring insecurity, contested sovereignty, and the risk of renewed conflict. This chapter examines the resulting socioeconomic crisis shaped by decades of warfare, authoritarian rule, sanctions, and foreign intervention, which have eroded state institutions and replaced them with a fragile sectarian political system, driving long-term economic and social breakdown marked by widespread suffering, unemployment, food insecurity, and environmental stress; despite its oil wealth, Iraq remains trapped in persistent poverty and vulnerability, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate extremes.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has endured over three decades of protracted, resource-driven conflict, particularly in its eastern regions, causing millions of deaths and a massive humanitarian crisis. As of April 2026, intense fighting persists in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, with groups such as March 23 Movement clashing with state forces despite recent counter-offensives. The crisis has escalated with widespread food insecurity affecting about 26.6 million people and nearly 8 million internally displaced, alongside increasingly sophisticated warfare involving drones and heavy artillery. Compounding this instability, the country faces overlapping public health emergencies, including COVID-19, Ebola virus disease, Mpox, and the bubonic plague, further intensifying its humanitarian burden. The chapter on the DR Congo examines how the crisis has deepened due to both internal dynamics and overlapping global conflicts, including the Ukraine war. It explores how COVID-19 and other infectious disease care have been jeopardized amid compounding challenges, while also addressing environmental and health pressures intensified by climate extremes, alongside intersecting crosscurrent issues.

Collectively, these chapters point to a persistent and troubling pattern: the convergence of protracted conflict, pandemic shocks, and climate stress generates complex crises that outstrip conventional policy responses. Across Israel–Palestine, Tigray, Iraq, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cycles of violence weaken institutions, fragment governance, and destabilize essential sectors. Climate pressures intensify resource scarcity and displacement, while pandemics expose and deepen structural vulnerabilities in already fragile systems. These intersecting forces drive cascading socioeconomic disruptions, entrench inequality, and prolong humanitarian distress, narrowing pathways to recovery. Addressing these layered crises will require stronger institutional resilience, inclusive governance, sustained international cooperation, and adaptive, context-sensitive innovation.