Publications

The Yemen Review October 8, 2018 34:33 MIN The Yemen Review – September 2018 In September, the Yemeni rial’s recent decline accelerated precipitously, with the currency’s value dropping to record lows by month’s end. While the rial has been under multiple, intensifying pressures stemming from the war for several years, a large increase in the money supply – through a 30 percent increase in civil servant salaries – and the collapse of peace talks last month appear to have spurred a rial sell-off in the market (see ‘Domestic Currency Hits Record Low’). A nation-wide fuel shortage ensued. Retail fuel stations closed en masse and prices for available petrol on the black market jumped an average of 130 percent relative to August, and as much as 230 percent in some areas (see ‘Fuel Shortages and… Continue reading Main Publications September 30, 2018 33:57 MIN The Need to Build State Legitimacy in Yemen By Osamah Al Rawhani, and Eyad Ahmed The ongoing conflict in Yemen has severely strained state legitimacy in the country. Legitimacy, a key component of state sovereignty, reflects a “social contract” between the state and the people it governs: an agreement on how power is exercised and how resources are distributed. A state’s legitimacy derives in part from its ability to deliver public services, ensure economic stability, and provide security. After three years of conflict, Yemen’s already fragile state institutions are unable to meet the most basic needs of the Yemeni people, intensifying the country’s economic and humanitarian crises. Struggles over political authority are not a new development in Yemen. From its creation in 1962 until unification with its southern neighbor in 1990, the Yemen Arab Republic… Continue reading News September 8, 2018 01:25 MIN The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies organizes a visit of the international press to the governorate of Hadramawt The Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies yesterday concluded an international press delegation visit to Hadramawt in eastern Yemen, where senior correspondents from major global news outlets were briefed on developments in the governorate. During the visit, which took place from September 3-7, 2018, the delegation met former Central Bank of Yemen Governor Mohammed bin Hummam at his home in Ghail Bawazir, where he gave a detailed briefing on the ongoing currency crisis and its impact on the economic and humanitarian situation in the country, as well as ways to address the collapse of the Yemeni rial and through reunifying the CBY. The delegation also held a series of individual and group meetings with the leadership of the local authority and… Continue reading The Yemen Review September 6, 2018 30:09 MIN The Yemen Review – August 2018 In the last six days of August the Yemeni rial entered one of its steepest and most rapid declines in value since the conflict began, resulting in sudden price spikes for basic foodstuffs. Given Yemen’s overwhelming dependence on imports to feed the population, such changes in the rial’s value have direct implications for the country’s humanitarian crisis (see ‘The Yemeni Rial’s Rapid Decline and Food Prices Surge’). Both the internationally recognized Yemeni government in Aden and the Houthi authorities in Sana’a took actions through last month targeting unlicensed money exchange firms – that have proliferated since the conflict began in 2015 – in an effort to curb their destabilizing effect on the currency market (see ‘Attempts to Curb the Influence… Continue reading Main Publications August 29, 2018 05:47 MIN Private Sector Engagement in Post-Conflict Yemen Yemen has spent much of the past 60 years embroiled in armed conflict and political crisis, with this cyclical instability and insecurity among the primary factors that has stymied both private sector maturation and the establishment of a strong state with well functioning public institutions. The vast majority of the Yemeni private sector is made up of small or very small businesses, even while providing almost 70 percent of working Yemenis with their livelihood. Rural agriculture has traditionally provided work for more than half the population. Since the discovery of commercially viable oil fields in the mid-1980s and the ramping up of oil production in Yemen through the 1990s, the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) has been heavily influenced… Continue reading The Yemen Review August 5, 2018 39:19 MIN Yemen at the UN – July 2018 Review At the end of July the Yemen conflict seemed poised to take on much broader regional and global dimensions, as Saudi Arabia halted oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait off Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Iran declared the sea “no longer secure,” and Israel threatened military intervention if Houthi forces attempted to close the strait to shipping (see ‘Riyadh Halts Bab Al-Mandeb Oil Shipments After Houthi Attacks’). Earlier in July, the Saudi-led military coalition and associated ground forces had temporarily halted their campaign to dislodge Houthi fighters from Hudaydah city and capture Yemen’s busiest port. The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths spent the rest of the month shuttling between the various stakeholders in the conflict in a… Continue reading Main Publications July 29, 2018 04:42 MIN Local Governance in Yemen Amid Conflict and Instability By Maged Al-Madhaji, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi Local councils are among Yemen’s most important state institutions. Responsible for providing basic public services to millions of Yemenis, local councils represent official governance and the Yemeni state for vast swathes of the population. The intensification of the conflict since March 2015, however, has undermined the councils’ ability to operate effectively in most areas of the country. The councils depend heavily on central government financing and, to a lesser degree, local sources of revenue such as taxes on basic utilities and telephone usage. As such, Yemen’s precipitous economic collapse, the subsequent decline in government revenues and the incapacitation of the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) have compromised local councils’ ability to operate. The nonpayment of civil servant salaries and Yemenis’… Continue reading News July 29, 2018 03:11 MIN The Third Yemen Exchange Conference Concludes The third Yemen Exchange conference, hosted by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies was held in Beirut, Lebanon, from June 26 to July 1, 2018. The conference offered a platform for a diverse range of Yemeni speakers to present their views and expertise on Yemen-related subjects and recent developments. Speakers included political and military representatives of local parties to the ongoing armed conflict, government officials, senior representatives of political parties, former diplomats, economic, political, security and religious experts, human rights activists, tribal leaders, former governors, journalists and archeologists. Participants, in turn, included diplomats, representatives of international organizations, civil society actors, scholars, security experts and journalists from Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East. Frank and unfettered discussions were guaranteed… Continue reading Main Publications July 29, 2018 22:35 MIN Challenges for Yemen’s Local Governance amid Conflict By Maged Al-Madhaji, and Anthony Biswell Local councils are among Yemen’s most important state institutions. Responsible for providing basic public services to millions of Yemenis, local councils represent official governance and the Yemeni state for much of the population. The intensification of the conflict between the internationally recognized government, its regional backers and the Houthi group since March 2015, however, has heavily impacted funding and security for local councils, undermining their ability to provide services effectively in most areas of the country. In many areas, this absence of effective official governance has created fertile ground for non-state actors to exert their influence. In the areas under Houthi control, Houthi supporters closely monitor local council activity. In the southern coastal city of Aden, local councils are caught… Continue reading The Yemen Review July 17, 2018 49:55 MIN Yemen at the UN – June 2018 Review In June, the Saudi-led military coalition and associated ground forces began their long-anticipated offensive against Houthi-held Hudaydah city. The ports of Hudaydah and nearby Saleef, along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, are the entry point for the majority of the country’s commercial and humanitarian imports. This creates the potential for catastrophic humanitarian fallout from the offensive given that 8.4 million Yemenis are already on the verge of famine. United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, spent most of June engaged in shuttle diplomacy with the belligerent parties to the conflict, and in consultations with the UN Security Council (UNSC), pushing a plan to preempt the attack by having Houthi forces turn control of Hudaydah port over to UN monitors (see… Continue reading News July 17, 2018 03:24 MIN An open letter regarding Hudaydah The Yemen Development Champions discussed the latest developments in Hudaydah governorate while convening for the latest Development Champions Forum. The Champions are concerned by the impact of escalating military operations on the humanitarian situation in Yemen as a whole and Hudaydah governorate in specific; in addition to the damage that would be caused to vital economic infrastructure. The effect on the economic situation in the country would be catastrophic. Hudaydah governorate is the third most densely populated governorate in Yemen and has more than 36,000 economic facilities that include farms, factories, and warehouses. It is home to the most important port in the country, through which the majority of goods and humanitarian aid are brought into Yemen. The Champions express… Continue reading News June 26, 2018 02:20 MIN Job opportunity announcement: Project coordinator The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies is an independent think-tank that seeks to foster change through knowledge production with a focus on Yemen and the surrounding region. The Center’s publications and programs, offered in both Arabic and English, cover political, social, economic and security related developments, aiming to impact policy locally, regionally, and internationally. Founded in 2014, the Sana’a Center is one of the few independent research centers that continues to operate in Yemen. While the Center maintains cordial relations with all key stakeholders it has remained fiercely unaligned with any of the belligerent parties. The Sana’a Center has thus maintained a unique positioning and ability to work throughout Yemen and beyond, distinguishing itself as an emerging leader in Yemen-related… Continue reading