Yemen: a Forgotten War and an Unforgettable Country

Theme: The political transition in Yemen has entered a critical stage after the Houthi movement's takeover of Sana'a and President Hadi's flight to Aden. The polarisation of the political forces reflects the growing tensions in the region and could end in an open military conflict.

2015

The delicate balance of Yemen’s political transition, supported by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative, is in danger of breaking up as a result of two opposing forces: an alternative political project represented by Ansar Allah, based on the country’s tribal and religious traditions, and the Jihadi utopia of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the self-declared Islamic State (Daesh). The two competing centres of power in Sana’a and Aden are acting as poles for the regional tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran and their respective allies. The risk of a military escalation that might suck in the countries of the region, in the context of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Yemen, requires the International Community’s urgent attention.

Asian Affairs, 1981

Abyssinians all sought to extend their sway over its territory. More recently, the British, Italians and Ottomans sought influence and control there. But the revolution of 26 September 1962, which swept away the traditional, isolationist nomocracy of the Imamate and ushered in eight years of civil war between royalists and republicans, also opened the door to more intensive outside interference in Yemeni affairs, as 'Abd al-Nasir's socialist Egypt and conservative Saudi Arabia conducted a long and bloody war by proxy before Yemeni national reconciliation was achieved in 1970.' While some Western attention had been sparked temporarily by that war, Yemen's political allegiance seemed to gain increasing importance only in the past few years as Soviet and American interests in the immediate region have intensified and been on the point of clashing. As American dependence on Gulf oil increased, so did awareness of the fragility and vulnerability of the political systems of the oil-producing states. The long rebellion in Dhufar, the southern province of the Sultanate of Oman (a key guardian of the entrance to the Gulf), was aided energetically by the PDRY with help from first the People's Republic of China and then the Soviet Union. The rebellion's effective termination in 1975 was followed by the Marxist revolution in Ethiopia. Then, Somalia's alliance shift from East to West resulted in the Ogaden War, embarrassing to the U.S., and the transfer of Soviet equipment and facilities to Aden. When open warfare broke out between the two Yemens in early 1979, the administration in Washington seemed to see this as an opportunity to draw a line against Soviet advances in Afro-Asia. The American response was particularly decisive in face of criticism over U.S. impotence visa -vis developments in Iran and pressure from strongly anti-Communist Saudi Arabia. Presumably, Washington felt that its show of support to the north Yemeni regime during this internecine struggle obligated the YAR to assume a pro-American stance across the board: thus, San'a" 's acceptance of Soviet equipment and advisers later in the year violated the American trust. The answer to the riddle of Yemen's behaviour during this period, however, can be found only by closer inspection of the circumstances confronting the leadership in San'a'.

http://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/meb/meb90.html The challenges posed by the Houthi revolt in the North and the reemergence of tribal domination in Yemeni politics are not merely the high point of an anti-government movement that began in 2004, but extend back to the founding of the modern Yemeni republic and the subsequent civil war (1962–68). In the ongoing struggle to define the character of Yemen, the current crisis marks a major point of transition between a declining national identity and the revival of tribal politics. All too often, the current crisis unfolding in Yemen has been described as a conflict involving extremist religious rebels or foreign intervention. This Brief, however, understands the recent rise and successes of the Houthi movement as the outgrowth of a domestic conflict, rooted in Yemen’s modern history and the gradual decline of its republic. It argues that the current challenges to the Yemeni government are occurring during a period of political transition following on the passing of the revolutionary generation that came of age during the 1960s. The foreign-educated founding members of the modern Yemeni republic, and the core group known as the Famous Forty, dominated the country’s political landscape in the four decades following the founding of the Yemeni republic in September 1962. This Brief will trace the origins of the Famous Forty and of the revolutionary generation, highlighting both the influential role they assumed in Yemeni politics and the ways in which this generation’s death, and the absence of legitimate successors to them, has been accompanied by a mass demonstration of grief concurrent with both the government’s loss of legitimacy and the loss of a public national identity. The ensuing vacuum in national politics has hampered the central government and allowed for the expansion of multiple opposition movements, such as the Houthis and al-Hirak, which target the very foundations of the modern Yemeni state. Nonetheless, this Brief concludes, although the Houthi assault on Sana’a is a reflection of a conflict between the government and the northern Zaydi tribes that began with the republic’s founding in 1962, it is also an indication of possible tribal and religious alternatives to the previous republican state model, and carries with it the potential for the formation of a strengthened central government.

RLS West Asia Dossier

The Western media often discusses the war in Yemen in an overly-simplified manner without shedding light on its complex history. The conflict is mostly depicted as a war between Sunnites and Shiites, with the Saudi and UAE-led military coalition on one side and Iran on the other. In this account, Yemeni actors are often described as mere puppets of their foreign protective powers. Another common and very simplistic perspective describes the war as a conflict between Houthi rebels and the internationally-recognized Hadi government ousted from Sanaʽa by a coup. The recent UN-mediated peace negotiations held in Stockholm in December 2018 seemed to confirm this picture of the war, as these two parties were the only ones to participate. The actual situation in Yemen, however, is significantly more complex, and involves many other actors who have had an important influence on the war and its continuation or could work towards its end. The following article by Anne-Linda Amira Augustin, advisor at the Foreign Representation of the Southern Transitional Council in Europe, focuses on the different political and military actors involved in the Yemeni crisis while also offering an overview of the key issues that led to the war and showing the country’s ongoing fragmentation since 2015.

2019

This paper sheds some light on the Southern Issue with reference to 2015 war in Yemen and shift of power. It has briefly surveyed the history of Southern Issue and the conflict relating to this issue, passing by 2015 war and shift of power. It has presented the history of this period impartially and neutrally and then reflected on the possible political scenarios in South Yemen in the light of the present war. It concluded with some recommendations that may help the concerned politicians involved in the Yemeni crisis to bring peace and stability to Southern Yemen particularly and Yemen generally. Article visualizations: