Scholasticide and Population Health in the Eastern Mediterranean

The systematic destruction of academic infrastructure, termed scholasticide, has been normalised across the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) over more than two decades. The doctrine has operated through two coexisting modalities: the targeted assassination of individual scholars and the physical destruction of institutions, escalating in scale from selective killings and partial looting to the dismantling of entire academic systems. Drawing on evidence from several EMR countries, we describe a causal cascade through which acute military strikes and chronic structural exclusion, including sanctions, platform over-compliance, and visa barriers, produce generational health workforce depletion, disrupt core public health functions, and cause population-level health harms. We argue that academic institutions constitute a distinct, upstream structural determinant of population health whose destruction is an attack on health systems, not merely on education. We propose five categories of action, implemented through standing regional and international mechanisms, to protect academic infrastructure across the EMR whenever and wherever it is attacked.

کلیدواژه ها:

Scholasticide ، Eastern Mediterranean ، Global Health ، Academia ، Post-Conflict Health