Socio-Economic Cost of War and Repression in the Middle East

War doesn't just destroy infrastructures; it dismantles the social and economic foundations that hold societies together. The US-Israeli war with Iran has exposed how Europe's response remains dangerously blind to the human dimension of conflict. A feminist and human-centered lens reveals what is truly at stake and what lasting peace actually requires.

The second volume of the ThinkPeace series begins with a regional focus on the Middle East. In particular, it examines how war, repression and international inertia converge, and whom they hit hardest. Drawing on concrete examples from the region, this publication exposes how conflict destroys not only physical infrastructure but the social and economic fabric of people's lives in deeply gendered ways. It calls on Germany and the EU to move beyond political passivity and adopt a human security framework that centres socio-economic realities, engages civil society and applies international law consistently.