Analysis

Analysis February 20, 2019 03:46 MIN US Military’s Ambiguous Definition of a ‘Legitimate’ Target After three months of no official drone strikes in Yemen, the United States carried out its first strike of 2019 on New Year’s Day. Five days later, on January 6, President Donald Trump tweeted that the US had killed the target of that strike: Jamal al-Badawi, the “leader” of the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. The US military quickly confirmed the strike, writing that: “Jamal al-Badawi was a legacy al-Qaeda operative in Yemen involved in the USS Cole bombing.” Indeed, in 2003 a US grand jury had indicted both al-Badawi and Fahd al-Quso for their role in the attack, which killed 17 US sailors. At the time, both men had recently escaped from a Yemeni prison, something al-Badawi… Continue reading Analysis February 15, 2019 23:40 MIN Revitalizing Yemen’s Banking Sector: Necessary Steps for Restarting Formal Financial Cycles and Basic Economic Stabilization By Farea Al-Muslimi, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi Yemen’s banking sector faces a litany of challenges stemming from the country’s ongoing economic collapse and the warring parties’ competition for financial control. The most critical challenge is the division of the central bank between Sana’a and Aden and the fierce competition between these two branches over the administration and regulation of the country’s commercial and Islamic banks. In February, this has seen Houthi authorities arrest senior officials from several banks in the capital for supposedly complying with policies set by the central bank in Aden and the Yemeni government’s Economic Committee. Other obstacles facing the banking sector are a prolonged liquidity crisis, the deteriorating local currency exchange rate, the loss of revenue from freezes on assets and public debt… Continue reading Analysis November 18, 2018 18:41 MIN The Iran Nuclear Deal and Yemen’s War: An Opportunity for EU Statecraft By Farea Al-Muslimi As the foreign military intervention in Yemen approaches its fourth year, world events have come together to create a rare window of opportunity to bring the conflict to an end. This, however, will require a powerful global actor to sheppard the process, and the European Union is currently the most well-positioned to take up the role. The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October has brought global attention to focus on the conduct of Riyadh’s rulers, and in particular the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. The internationally recognized Yemeni government, supported by a coalition of Arab states with Saudi Arabia at the helm, are mired in a veritable stalemate with the armed Houthi movement,… Continue reading Analysis November 4, 2018 06:42 MIN What Does the New Head of the Internationally Recognized Government Mean for Yemen? By Farea Al-Muslimi Days ago, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi sworn in Maeen Abdul Malik as his new prime minister, making him the latest member of the government-in-exile in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. This followed Hadi’s sacking of the previous prime minister, Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher who, since his appointment in April 2016, had become the president’s partner in failure. Notably, bin Dagher had become prime minister following an implicit coup which he and Hadi had launched against his predecessor, Khaled Bahah. So what is the context and background of this new appointment, and what will its implications be? As a result of several fallouts between the Yemeni government and the United Arab Emirates, a supposed ally in the war against… Continue reading Analysis December 20, 2017 28:34 MIN Trump and the Yemen War: Misrepresenting the Houthis as Iranian proxies By Adam Baron, Waleed Alhariri and Anthony Biswell Executive Summary: The involvement of numerous foreign actors on all sides of the Yemen war has not changed the fact that fundamentally the conflict remains tied to local dynamics. This is particularly true with regard to the Houthis, the militant group currently controlling much of Yemen’s north and facing off against forces associated with the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Saudi-led military coalition. The administration of United States President Donald Trump has been a vociferous opponent of Iran – along with its Gulf Arab allies and the Yemeni government – and has advanced a conception of the Houthis as agents of Iran and a policy that aims to “hit Iran in… Continue reading Analysis December 16, 2017 06:22 MIN The Last Stronghold of Yemenis: How Has the War Changed Ma’rib? At first glance, Ma’rib appears to be an intense Yemen resisting collapse. One of the last strongholds for the "Republic of Yemen" as a state for all its citizens. This might sound as overloading the place with symbolism, but even this stems from a profound feeling that very place inspires, despite all the challenges it is facing. It also stems from the city’s stubborn clinging to its "Yemenihood" rather than "Ma’ribiness", whereby all other Yemeni regions resort to and are nervous about tiny identities and pre-national identifications. Ma’rib is, above all, a major battlefield in the current war in Yemen. This confuses it, affects it and ultimately transforms it. The fact that it is the governorate from which grand battle… Continue reading Analysis December 13, 2017 12:18 MIN Yemen after Saleh Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s killing last week reverberated throughout Yemen and the wider region. As the most dominant figure in the country for more than 30 years, the implications of his demise are formidable. To garner a deeper understanding of how the outlook has changed for the ongoing conflict and the country in general, the Sana’a Center asked seven experts on Yemen for their insight. Maysaa Shuja al Deen | Yemeni journalist and non-resident fellow at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies Prospects for peace with the Houthis controlling Sana’a At a time when the Houthi military’s grip on Sana’a has tightened – along with increased arrests, killings and censorship of social media and the internet – Houthi… Continue reading Analysis November 30, 2017 31:37 MIN The Impact of War on Mental Health in Yemen: A Neglected Crisis Executive Summary: Much of the Yemeni population faces frequent exposure to serious stressors, harm and trauma, whether from food insecurity, unemployment, cholera, arbitrary detention, torture, indiscriminate attacks, air strikes, or weak to non-existent basic public services. The ongoing conflict in Yemen thus has immediate implications for the mental health and well-being of Yemenis. Despite the known long-term adverse effects of poor mental health — including on physical health, family cohesion, education, participation in the workforce, and peace and reconciliation efforts — mental health issues in Yemen have largely been neglected by both domestic authorities and the international community. The challenges to addressing the psychological needs of Yemenis are daunting. The ongoing conflict is continually increasing the breadth and depth of… Continue reading Analysis November 4, 2017 20:17 MIN “There are many devils” – A conversation with Governor of Taiz Ali al-Mamari Taiz city and the wider governorate have been an active frontline in the Yemeni conflict for more than two and a half years. Fighters from the Houthi movement and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh first stormed Taiz in early 2015, with local resistance groups soon taking up arms against them. Fighting has raged since, with the anti-Houthi forces receiving nominal support from the internationally recognized government of Yemen and the Saudi-led military coalition backing it. Ali al-Mamari, an esteemed former member of the Parliament of Yemen, became the official local government representative of Taiz in 2016, when President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi appointed him governor of Taiz. Al-Mamari was in Beirut, Lebanon last month and spoke at… Continue reading Analysis October 31, 2017 13:23 MIN Renewed rapid currency depreciation and diverging monetary policy between Sana’a and Aden Summary: Through October Yemen’s domestic currency, the rial (YR), lost almost 10 percent of its value relative to the United States dollar (USD) in market trading, dropping from YR 375 to the USD to YR 412. This drop was roughly equivalent to the loss in value over the previous six months and the second time in 2017 that the rial has experienced rapid devaluation. As the Sana’a Center has previously documented, in the first half of February Yemen’s domestic currency lost some 20 percent of its market value. In both these instances, the authorities in Sana’a, (where the Houthi movement and the allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh hold sway,) and those in the southern city of Aden,… Continue reading Analysis October 5, 2017 27:22 MIN Mental Health and the Psychological Impact of War on Individuals, Families, and Communities in Yemen: A project to advance research, services, and advocacy The ongoing war in Yemen has spurred the world’s largest food security emergency and the largest cholera epidemic ever recorded. Millions have been sent into abject poverty, the nation’s economy has been destroyed, and basic public services have evaporated. At least 50,000 civilians have been killed or wounded during the conflict, with the belligerent parties committing a litany of war crimes and violations of humanitarian law against the civilian population, including arbitrary detention, torture, indiscriminate attacks and murder. The war thus has immediate and long-term implications for the mental health and psychosocial well-being of Yemenis, with much of the population exposed to serious and repeated stressors, harm, and trauma. The challenges to addressing the psychological needs of Yemenis are daunting:… Continue reading Analysis September 29, 2017 35:22 MIN The evolution of militant Salafism in Taiz By Bushra Al-Maqtari The rise of Salafi militias in the Yemeni city of Taiz has contributed to the now frequent outbursts of violence there between ostensibly pro-government factions. It has also helped foster an environment conducive to extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). If not addressed directly, these developments are likely to continue destabilizing the city and wider governorate well after any potential resolution to the larger conflict in Yemen. While Taiz has traditionally been known for its leftist political tendencies, the Salafi presence has grown steadily in recent decades. Prior to Yemen’s 2011 uprising, however, local adherents to this ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam, as elsewhere in Yemen, had been staunchly apolitical and focused their activities on charitable… Continue reading