Houthi

Yemen Review section November 14, 2022 07:42 MIN October 2022 Oil Port Attacks Threaten Government Finances Houthi drone attacks on Nushayma and Al-Dabba oil terminals in the latter half of October paralyzed oil exports and threatened to undermine government finances. Although its effects were not felt in October, prolonged loss of oil revenue would cut the government off from by far its largest source of revenue, which would have widespread knock-on effects, including eroding the ability of the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden) to continue financing basic commodity imports, support the value of new rials and keep inflation subdued. Representatives from the government-aligned Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden) met with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the US Federal Reserve in early October, with IMF officials praising recent CBY-Aden policies… Continue reading Yemen Review section November 14, 2022 08:44 MIN October 2022 Houthis Attack Oil Ports Houthi drone and missile strikes on government-controlled oil ports in mid-October marked the first significant post-truce military escalation, although neither the government nor the Houthis immediately launched major ground offensives. Fighting along frontlines nationwide after the truce ended October 2 occurred in southwestern Yemen, in Taiz, Lahj and Hudaydah governorates. In their troop movements and fortification of positions, both sides appeared to be preparing for the ground war to intensify. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, meanwhile, sent more weapons to their respective clients. No casualties or damage were reported from the October 18-21 Houthi strikes on the Nushayma oil terminal and Al-Dabba port, but the prospect of further attacks in and outside Yemen paralyzed oil exports for more than three… Continue reading Editorial October 18, 2022 03:47 MIN September 2022 Women’s Rights are Non-Negotiable Houthi restrictions on women’s rights have become increasingly oppressive in recent months. Retrograde efforts to control women are ever more common, most conspicuously through the procedure of requiring the approval of a male guardian, or mahram, for all manner of activities. The mahram can be any male member of the family, including the father, husband, brother, or even a young son. Yemenia Airways has started to request not only a letter of approval from a guardian for women to book outbound flights, with a stamp of approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but for a mahram to physically accompany them on the plane. This includes Yemeni women working for international organizations, who have been prevented from traveling outside their… Continue reading Yemen Review section October 13, 2022 18:29 MIN September 2022 Houthis Scuttle Truce Talks with Last-Minute Demands The truce between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the armed Houthi movement, in place since April, was allowed to expire without renewal on October 2. The UN-facilitated agreement birthed the longest sustained period of relative peace since the conflict began, with a concomitant drop off in civilian casualties. September was dominated by fruitless negotiations to extend and expand the agreement. UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg shuttled across the region to build support for an extension, as government and Houthi negotiators sparred over the terms. Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) chairman Rashad al-Alimi, inNew York to attend the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, gave a speech accusing the Houthis of disregarding the provisions of the truce. In Yemen, Houthi… Continue reading Yemen Review section October 13, 2022 06:25 MIN September 2022 Govt and Saudi Arabia Reach Agreement For New Fuel Grant Economic developments in September centered on the fuel crisis in Houthi-held areas and the continued delay of the Saudi-Emirati economic support package to the government. In early September, Houthi authorities initiated an emergency plan in areas under their control amid reportedly severe fuel shortages. Houthi authorities accused the coalition of being behind the shortage, citing a backup of fuel ships outside the port of Hudaydah, while the government accused the Houthis of manufacturing the crisis by preventing fuel merchants from submitting agreed-upon import documentation. The fuel crisis was ultimately averted in mid-September when the government allowed eight fuel ships into Hudaydah. Although new Yemeni rials remained relatively stable in government-held areas through most of September, the threat of renewed exchange… Continue reading Yemen Review section August 12, 2022 09:51 MIN July 2022 Houthis Continue to Bilk Consumers With Exorbitant Fuel Prices By Wadhah Al-Awlaqi On July 3, the Sana’a-based Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) increased the official price of petrol by 9 percent, from YR640 t0 YR700 per liter, in areas under the control of Houthi authorities. Since last June, Houthi-controlled cities have suffered from continuing shortages of diesel, leading to wide divergences in prices at official, commercial and black-market fuel stations. In the last week of July, commercial and black-market prices were approximately 17 and 33 percent higher, respectively, than the official price. Between June 2021 and July this year, the YPC in Sanaa has increased the price of fuels three times. During this period, the price of petrol increased 137 percent, from YR295 per liter to YR700 per liter, while the price of… Continue reading Analysis May 21, 2022 07:09 MIN What Awaits the Presidential Council in Aden The replacement of President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi with an eight-man presidential council was long-awaited by Yemenis both inside the country and in the diaspora. Bringing together the main factions within the anti-Houthi camp, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) quickly garnered international support – the US, UK and United Nations Security Council welcomed the creation of the PLC, while the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, along with a number of European and Arab ambassadors, attended the swearing-in of the council in Aden on April 19. However, in this new political landscape, the PLC’s path to restoring peace and stability in Yemen is far from certain. In particular, the recent rise in suspected activity by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)… Continue reading Analysis March 27, 2022 17:34 MIN The Best of Intentions: How the Biden Administration Tried and Failed to End the War in Yemen By Gregory D. Johnsen The Biden administration took office on January 20, 2021, determined to end the war in Yemen. On the campaign trail, candidate Biden had promised not to “sell more weapons” to Saudi Arabia, explaining that Saudi airstrikes in Yemen were “murdering children” and “innocent people.” Biden referred to Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” and said that it needed “to be held accountable” for its actions in Yemen. Biden’s campaign pledge was designed to be a sharp break with the previous two administrations. Both the Obama administration – in which Biden served as vice president – and the Trump administration had, in one way or another, backed the Saudi-led coalition and its war in Yemen. But six years into a war that… Continue reading The Yemen Review March 3, 2022 279:55 MIN The Graveyard of Hubris – Yemen Annual Review 2021 Through most of 2021, the armed Houthi movement appeared unstoppable. As their forces pushed relentlessly toward Marib city, the fall of the last government stronghold in the north began to seem inevitable. Rich in oil and gas, its loss would be a mortal blow to the spiraling economy and political legitimacy of the internationally recognized government. Along frontlines across the country, Houthi forces either held their ground or advanced, showing a cohesiveness, discipline and effectiveness unmatched by the motley array of armed groups opposing them. Houthi drones and ballistic missiles flew across the border into Saudi Arabia, and continued even in the face of retaliatory airstrikes, heightening the cost of conflict for the coalition. Houthi military efforts were buttressed by… Continue reading Analysis February 16, 2022 24:04 MIN Northern Yemeni Tribes during the Eras of Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthi Movement: A Comparative Study By Adel Dashela The support of northern Yemeni tribes has historically been critical for the ability of the central government in Sana’a to maintain power. During the period of the Zaidi Imamate – the northern religious polity that ended in 1962 – the rulers, or imams, used their social status as descendants of the Prophet Mohammed’s family to win over the two most important tribal confederations in the north, the Hashid and Bakil, between whom there is a long history of rivalry. “The imams and rulers depended to a large extent on the northern tribes, and the most famous warring tribes in Yemen were the Hashid and Bakil. They are known as the two wings,” the late nationalist politician Ahmad Mohammed Noaman wrote… Continue reading Analysis October 13, 2021 06:03 MIN The Houthis’ Fatal Military Success By Abdulghani Al-Iryani Seven years into the Yemen war, nearly everyone has come to accept what was obvious from the start: foreign military interventions carry within them the seeds of their own failure. The arrogance of the intervening powers humiliates and demoralizes their local partners and clients. The intervening powers are often most comfortable dealing with the most compliant and easily manipulated of their local partners, thereby creating a selection process in which the least patriotic and the most corrupt often become the partners of choice. The arrogance of the intervening powers and the corruption of their local clients are frequently the two most powerful weapons in the arsenal of the parties resisting the intervention. This is the basic formula that has determined… Continue reading Main Publications September 6, 2021 17:28 MIN Local Economic Councils: A Tool to Improve Business Productivity in Yemen Even before the events of 2014 and 2015 that led Yemen into the ongoing civil war, its economy was fragile. The years of hardship that have haunted the country ever since have been devastating. Yemen is now rated as one of the hardest places in the world for businesses to operate and is last or near last in a host of global business competitiveness indexes. From January 25-27,2021 the seventh Development Champions Forum, held virtually, focused on this dire national situation. To help address local economic challenges, the Development Champions discussed the possibility of establishing Local Economic Councils. According to their analysis, between the existing community-level local development committees (which guide targeted, small scale infrastructure investment from development funds such… Continue reading