Publications

Main Publications June 13, 2017 27:49 MIN OUT OF THE SHADOWS Recommendations to Advance Transparency in the Use of Lethal Force “We want to know why our son got killed, and we demand justice” — Yaslem Saeed bin Ishaq, father of 28-year-old Saleh Yaslem Saeed bin Ishaq, killed by a drone strike in Yemen, August, 2013 Families around the world suffer devastating loss when their relatives are killed in U.S. drone strikes and other attacks. Their suffering is magnified and prolonged by uncertainty and injustice when the U.S. government does not officially acknowledge their loss or explain the strikes, as has frequently been the case for U.S. strikes in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Continual non-recognition or denial of their harm suggests to families that their loved ones are dispensable, not even… Continue reading The Yemen Review June 7, 2017 25:06 MIN Yemen at the UN – May 2017 Review Summary: In May, a cholera epidemic swept Yemen at terrifying speed. Between the beginning and the end of the month the number of suspected cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea (AWD) nearly tripled to 70,000, with some 600 associated deaths. At the beginning of June, UNICEF regional director Geert Cappelaere said that without significant intervention the number of cases could rise to 300,000 “within a few weeks’ time.” In Aden, political fallout and general unrest continued from President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s decision in April to remove Aydarus al-Zubaydi from his post as governor of Aden. This included mass public demonstrations and the formation of the “Transitional Political Council of the South” – made up of prominent political, military… Continue reading Main Publications June 4, 2017 16:53 MIN Addressing Yemen’s Most Critical Challenges: Practical Short-Term Recommendations As part of the “Rethinking Yemen’s Economy” initiative, the Development Champions Forum met in Amman, Jordan, between April 29 and May 1, 2017, to discuss practical interventions necessary to address the multiple and varied economic challenges facing Yemen. These challenges were identified within three main, if overlapping, categories; the food security crisis, the problems faced by the banking industry, and the collapse of basic service delivery. In regards to the food crisis, the Development Champions’ recommendations called on the international community to move quickly in fulfilling all aid pledges. The champions also emphasized that aid should be cash-based rather than in-kind assistance whenever possible. They called on all parties to the conflict to work towards removing the logistical and financial… Continue reading Analysis May 29, 2017 16:16 MIN Iran’s Role in Yemen Exaggerated, but Destructive By Farea Al-Muslimi Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and ten other countries have been conducting a bloody airstrike campaign against the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen. The campaign, meant to counter what Saudis call the “Iranian Threat” in the Arabian Peninsula, had received limited support from the Obama Administration, but Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are now operating with a freer hand from the Trump White House. One of the main U.S. justifications for arming and supporting the Saudi war in Yemen is the claim that the Houthis—a Yemeni Zaydi Shia-led rebel group—are Iranian proxies, seeking to overthrow the government of Yemen and bring it under Iranian influence. The Houthis and Iran, on the other hand, deny a close relationship and downplay… Continue reading News May 25, 2017 05:17 MIN UN Security Council must act to end man-made humanitarian crisis in Yemen To all United Nations Security Council Members, We the undersigned organisations call upon UN Security Council members to take action to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, end the humanitarian crisis and support the UN Special Envoy's efforts towards an inclusive political solution to the conflict. The Security Council can and must do more to protect civilians from the horrors of cholera, hunger and indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the conflict. The scale and speed of the multiple crises demand that the Security Council breaks its year-long inaction on Yemen. The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is now the largest in the world, with more than 18 million people in need of assistance and 7 million already at risk… Continue reading The Yemen Review May 8, 2017 26:32 MIN Yemen at the UN – April 2017 Review Summary: In April, the Saudi-led military coalition’s proposed assault on the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hudaydah, and the likely humanitarian catastrophe it would precipitate, was again the focus of most international policy discussions regarding Yemen. By month’s end, however, widespread opposition to the operation within the US, at the UN, within the humanitarian community and elsewhere appeared to gain purchase with both the Saudi-led coalition and American policy makers contemplating United States military support for the action, with these latter two groups apparently re-evaluating Saudi-led coalition plans for an offensive and exploring political alternatives to the attack. On the ground, tensions amongst armed groups and political factions supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemen repeatedly arose. The most notable… Continue reading Analysis May 6, 2017 05:27 MIN The endless battle in Taiz By Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen Taiz is the site of the longest-running battle ground in the Yemen war, which began when Houthi forces took over the city on March 25, 2015. Initially, the Houthis were confronted by peaceful demonstrations which they repressed heavily, killing six demonstrators in the process. The situation rapidly developed into armed conflict when the war erupted after the Houthis invaded the south, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to launch a counteroffensive on March 26, 2015. Taiz is centrally located in Yemen, and is the country’s third most populous city. Although large parts of Taiz were reportedly liberated from Houthi dominance, the “Taiz liberation operation” was never launched with serious intent. Taiz has been described as the heart of Yemen’s 2011 uprising against… Continue reading News May 3, 2017 02:26 MIN The Yemen Exchange The first Yemen Exchange conference, co-hosted by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies and the Mideast Wire, took place April 12 - 16 in Beirut, Lebanon. Participants included diplomats, security experts, scholars and journalists from around Europe, North America, the Middle East and China, who were brought together with a wide spectrum of Yemeni experts, actors and thought leaders – including current and former ministers, general secretaries of political parties, diplomats, bureaucrats, economists, historians and tribal leaders – representing the various warring parties in Yemen’s ongoing war and a diverse array of local power brokers from across the country. Discussions throughout the five-day event explored the complexity of the Yemen’s ongoing crisis, delving into the economic, socio-political, sectarian and historical… Continue reading The Yemen Review April 7, 2017 17:32 MIN Yemen at the UN – March 2017 Review Summary In March, the prospect of a Saudi-led military coalition offensive on the rebel-held city of Hudaydah dominated Yemen-related policy discussions at the United Nations and in the United States. Discussions among UN Security Council member states generally centered around how such an offensive would radically exacerbate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis – given that Hudaydah is the main entry point for humanitarian and commercial goods, and that the country is already facing the world’s largest food security emergency. In the US the debate centered around whether the offensive would serve American interests in countering Iranian influence in the region, and to what degree the US military should support a coalition assault on Hudaydah. There were strong indications in March that the… Continue reading Analysis March 31, 2017 10:10 MIN Rapid currency depreciation and the decimation of Yemeni purchasing power International financial intervention is urgently needed to protect the value of the Yemen’s domestic currency. If this support is not forthcoming in the immediate near-term the Yemeni rial faces rapid depreciation; in a country that imports nearly 90 percent of its nutritional needs this depreciation would decimate the ability of most Yemenis to purchase food and other basic necessities. The two-year-old civil war and regional military intervention in Yemen has already helped create the world’s largest food security emergency, with millions of people currently facing starvation; a steep decline in remaining per capita purchasing power would significantly accelerate the spread of famine. Economic pressures stemming from the two-year-old civil war and regional military intervention in Yemen have taken their toll… Continue reading News March 27, 2017 00:35 MIN Rethinking Yemen’s Economy The European Union and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Yemen are proud to announce the launch of a new initiative to identify the economic and development priorities in Yemen. The initiative is implemented through a partnership between DeepRoot Consulting, Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies and the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO). It aims to engage Yemeni development leaders from the private sector, academia, and economic experts in identifying Yemen’s economic and development priorities in Yemen during and after the conflict. This 2-year initiative, which was launched in Bonn, Germany, on Friday, will provide a platform to reimagine the Yemeni economy through a series of research studies, economic forums, and public outreach… Continue reading Analysis March 27, 2017 24:52 MIN The Limits of US Military Power in Yemen: Why Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula continues to thrive By Farea Al-Muslimi Similar to US counterterrorism efforts in Yemen under President Barack Obama, the newly minted White House administration of Donald Trump has shown little appetite to explore non-military policy options to supplement the use of American firepower in Yemen. Indeed, shortly after taking office President Trump authorized the escalation of drone strikes and special forces operations in Yemen. The Trump administration’s 2017 budget proposal to congress also outlines massive cuts in US diplomatic and humanitarian spending, even as the UN declared last month that Yemen faces the largest food security emergency in the world. Such a myopic focus on the military option in the battle against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) indicates a failure to grasp why AQAP has… Continue reading