Director of the IIP Stephanie Fenkart spoke with Professor Sami Nader, economist and Director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs in Beirut on the impact of covid-19 in Lebanon on April 27, 2020. The interview addressed the political environment in Lebanon and the new government, the financial crisis faced by the country, as well as the impact of the pandemic on the previous year's protests and the refugee situation in the country.

Sami Nader is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Lebanon Pulse, an economist, Middle Eastern affairs analyst and communications expert with extensive expertise in corporate strategy and risk management. He currently directs the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, focusing on the economics and geopolitics of the Levant, and is a professor for USJ University in Beirut.