Economic

Yemen Review section July 22, 2025 09:08 MIN April-June 2025 Israel’s Genocide in Gaza Destabilizes Yemen and the Region By Magnus Fitz The Middle East has been marked by escalating violence and deepening volatility since October 7, 2023. Hamas’ assault against Israel opened the door for the realization of long-standing Israeli ambitions of a reconfigured region, which has fanned the flames of instability in several countries. In Gaza, these ambitions have been propelled not merely by Western indifference but by direct abetment. In Yemen, instability has manifested in Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and against Israel, which has invited direct military action by some of the world’s great military powers. The sum of Israel’s wars–from Gaza and the West Bank to Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran–has been tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of deaths and immense destruction, sowing the seeds… Continue reading Editorial July 22, 2025 03:25 MIN April-June 2025 Yemenis Deserve Leaders Who Will Put Their Interests First Yemen’s ongoing economic collapse is a tragedy starring a myriad of actors, none of them innocent. The situation has become even more dire in recent weeks amid delays in anticipated financial support from Saudi Arabia for the government of recently-appointed Prime Minister Salem bin Breik, and as the Houthis create an even more repressive environment for humanitarian organizations, civil society groups, and financial institutions. As successive political and economic disasters feed into each other, it’s as if the government and the Houthis are competing over who can better fail the Yemeni people. Since the Saudi-sponsored, UN-backed truce officially ended in October 2022, hopes for a gradual return to economic normalcy, or at least steps toward recovery, have been repeatedly dashed.… Continue reading Analysis July 21, 2025 04:04 MIN April-June 2025 What Does a Weakened Iran Mean for the Houthis? By Thomas Juneau The balance of power in the Middle East has been transformed in the past year and a half. For years, there was a widespread assumption that there existed a loose balance of terror between Israel and Iran. Analysts understood that Israel’s conventional military power, backed by the United States, was vastly superior to Iran’s depleted military. But the common view was that Iran’s unconventional assets – its missile and drone programs and its support for violent non-state armed groups – posed enough of a threat to deter Israel from attacking. This perception led to the gradual development of unofficial rules of the game between the two sides, whereby each repeatedly attacked the other, but indirectly, and with sufficient restraint to… Continue reading Analysis July 18, 2025 04:26 MIN Currency War Threatens to Deepen Yemen’s Monetary Rift By Sana’a Center Economic Unit Yemen's fractured monetary system is on the brink of further division. The Houthi group has introduced new unilateral monetary measures, issuing new coins and banknotes in an attempt to consolidate financial control, undermine their rivals, and sustain the war economy. On July 13, the Houthi-affiliated Central Bank of Yemen in Sana’a (CBY-Sana’a) issued a new 50-rial coin. Two days later, the central bank announced the introduction of a new 200-rial banknote. It claimed the new currency is intended to replace damaged and worn-out 50, 100, 200, and 250-rial banknotes and will not impact exchange rates or the national economy. The government-controlled Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden) swiftly denounced the new coin as a “counterfeit, destructive, and a continuation… Continue reading News July 16, 2025 03:08 MIN Sana’a Center Visit to Colombia Focuses on Peacebuilding and Justice Bogotá, Colombia, July 6, 2025 — The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies has concluded a week-long study tour to Colombia, exploring the country’s peace process, transitional justice system, and approaches to inclusive reconciliation. The trip gathered insights into the design of peace processes and transitional justice frameworks to help inform the Sana’a Center’s ongoing work on justice and reconciliation in Yemen. The visit, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was carried out in partnership with Yemen’s DeepRoot Consulting and involved participation from members of the Hikma Fellowship. The study tour in Colombia was organized by Fundación Acordemos, a Bogotá-based organization founded in 2023 by members of the team behind Colombia’s historic peace agreement with the FARC. The Sana’a Center… Continue reading Analysis June 20, 2025 09:39 MIN The Israel-Iran War – Reaction from Sana’a Center Experts By Maged Al-Madhaji, Abdulghani Al-Iryani, Tawfeek Al-Ganad, and Osamah Al Rawhani The Middle East is undergoing profound shifts following the Israeli strikes on Iran. These developments have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the Islamic Republic, particularly influencing the situation in Yemen. The Houthi group (Ansar Allah) has emerged as the last effective stronghold of the so-called Axis of Resistance, especially after the weakening of its other pillars, most notably Hezbollah. Although the Houthis were quick to condemn Israel’s attack on Iran, the extent of their ability to support their allies beyond rhetoric remains uncertain. The Houthis announced the firing of ballistic missiles at Israel on June 15, with military spokesman Yahya Sarea stating that the group’s attacks were coordinated with Iran. However, a week into this escalation, Iran appears to be… Continue reading Analysis May 21, 2025 10:30 MIN Saudi Arabia’s New Approach Toward Yemen’s Northern Tribes By Adel Dashela Yemen has witnessed profound changes over the last decade as the country's political geography disintegrated and non-state actors rose to prominence. It is now a fragmented state, where “Yemeni tribes—especially in the northern provinces ... control large portions of the country’s territory and perform state-like functions.” With the collapse of state institutions, tribes have sought to become an alternative to state authorities in order to protect their members and material interests. In the words of political scientist Daniel Corstange, in some contexts, tribes have become the “second-best substitutes for an absent or weak state.” Historically, intertwined connections and unstable dynamics have characterized relationships between Saudi Arabia and these tribes. The relationship “has been subjected to significant shocks and external and… Continue reading Analysis May 16, 2025 06:10 MIN A New Prime Minister is Not the Answer By Abdulghani Al-Iryani, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi Ever since the internationally recognized government fled from Sana’a after the Houthi takeover in 2014, it has failed to develop a strategy to adapt to its new environment and the challenges it poses. Instead, it has continued to act as if nothing has happened, and only a few tweaks are required to keep going. This can be seen clearly in the decision to maintain large cabinets, along with hundreds of deputy ministers added to accommodate the relatives of powerful government figures. Whenever conditions deteriorated, the miracle cure would be a cabinet reshuffle drawing from the same pool of corrupt officials. Each new prime minister presented a government program that they knew, and everyone else knew, could not be implemented. So… Continue reading Analysis May 9, 2025 07:27 MIN US Leaves Yemen Worse Than It Found It By Ned Whalley At a May 6 press conference with the Canadian prime minister, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with the Houthis (Ansar Allah). Trump said the group had agreed to end attacks on the US Navy and maritime shipping transiting the Red Sea in exchange for an immediate halt to US airstrikes in Yemen. Each side claimed the other had backed down. The Houthis quickly reserved the right to continue attacks on Israel, whose ongoing destruction of Gaza was the purported impetus for their attacks in the Red Sea. April was the deadliest month of airstrikes in Yemen since 2017 – the US has conducted over a thousand since mid-March - but Houthi power remains entrenched, its drone and missile… Continue reading Analysis May 9, 2025 08:58 MIN Why Did Trump Decide to Halt Operations in Yemen? By Hussam Radman Over the past few days, Yemen has witnessed a series of dramatic developments that could profoundly reshape the local and regional dynamics of the conflict. First, the Houthis succeeded in breaching Israeli air defenses with a ballistic missile attack targeting Ben Gurion Airport. Second, Israel launched a markedly more destructive response, striking economic infrastructure in Yemen and rendering both the port of Hudaydah and Sana’a Airport completely inoperable. Finally, US President Donald Trump announced a halt to US airstrikes in Yemen after the Houthis agreed to cease attacks against the US Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. This rapid and stunning turn of events effectively signals that Washington has chosen to relinquish its role as a geopolitical stabilizer… Continue reading Yemen Review section April 21, 2025 04:08 MIN January-March 2025 Into the Quagmire: Navigating US Policy in Yemen By Alexandra Nikopoulou Since the inauguration of the new US administration, Washington has adopted a fiercer stance against the Houthis, the last resilient pillar of the pro-Iranian Axis of Resistance. The Houthis are the only Iranian ally that have had their power increase in the conflagration with Israel. Their attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea were viewed as a global threat to freedom of navigation, prompting a US military reaction in 2024 that has escalated after the return of Donald Trump as president. Washington perceives the Houthis as an extension of Iran and attacks against them as an easy way to push the Islamic Republic toward negotiations on its nuclear program. However, his assessment makes dangerous assumptions about the Iranian-Houthi relationship.… Continue reading Analysis April 21, 2025 08:27 MIN January-March 2025 Gulf Allies Could Prove Key in US Plans in Yemen By Elham A. Omar On March 15, US President Donald Trump ordered a series of “decisive and powerful” airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthis in response to the group’s attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea. The operation marks the most significant US military engagement in the Middle East since Trump retook office, with the stated aims of degrading Houthi capabilities and sending a clear message to their Iranian allies. Trump’s escalation has heightened tensions with Iran, risking a broader confrontation. Meanwhile, regional reactions to the strikes have been shaped by states’ interests, alliances, and the ripple effects of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The UAE, which backs powerful military groups in southern Yemen, has a history of supporting a hawkish approach to… Continue reading