STC

Analysis December 12, 2025 11:09 MIN The STC Moves Into Eastern Yemen – Reaction from Sana’a Center Experts By Hussam Radman, Yasmeen al-Eryani, Abdulghani Al-Iryani, and Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen In early December, armed forces affiliated with the secessionist, UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized control of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, displacing tribal forces led by Amr Bin Habrish and 1st Military Region army units affiliated with the Islah party. With its eastward expansion, the STC now controls nearly all of the territory of the former South Yemen state, including its most productive oil fields. The takeover has ushered in a new phase of the Yemen conflict, with the potential for territorial lines to be redrawn and the regional balance of power now in flux. Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) chief Rashad al-Alimi and Prime Minister Salem bin Breik have left the interim capital for Saudi Arabia, where they have held a… Continue reading Yemen Review section October 28, 2025 10:04 MIN July-September 2025 Politics and Diplomacy — The Yemen Review, July-September 2025 By Casey Coombs Following women-led demonstrations in Aden and Taiz in May and June, widespread protests erupted in Hadramawt’s capital, Mukalla, on July 28, leading to the storming of a local authority building and the Munawwira electricity plant. The unrest was sparked by severe power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day. Protesters blocked streets, and shops were closed as Hadrami Elite forces fired live rounds to disperse crowds. The Mukalla People and Youth Escalation Committee, which organized the protests, accused Hadramawt Governor Mabkhout bin Madi of corruption and marginalizing locals, demanding his removal under slogans such as “No oil without Hadramawt rights.” The Hadramawt Security Committee, led by Bin Madi, denied reports of casualties during the unrest and blamed “malicious actors”… Continue reading Analysis October 28, 2025 08:42 MIN July-September 2025 A New Approach to Reforming the Government of Yemen By Hussam Radman In 2022, Yemen's internationally recognized government replaced then-President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi with a Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), which was tasked with serving as the country’s new executive political and legal authority. While the transition was framed as a response to growing domestic demand for change, it was primarily driven by external influence, most notably from Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom’s urgency to extricate itself from its costly military entanglement in Yemen led to efforts to secure a negotiated settlement with the Houthis, culminating in what became known as the roadmap for peace. The roadmap has since stalled amid regional transformations following the events of October 7. The turmoil that ensued has underscored an important reality: despite its weakness and marginalization,… Continue reading Analysis October 28, 2025 05:10 MIN July-September 2025 Calls for Recognizing Somaliland and the Implications for Yemen By Ahmed Al-Ahssab There have been growing signals of possible international recognition of the Republic of Somaliland. Former British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson alluded to the possibility of US President Donald Trump recognizing Somaliland’s independence in November 2024. His remarks coincided with favorable positions expressed by US officials who had worked with Trump, such as Peter Pham and Tibor Nagy, as well as moves by American lawmakers. The president of Somaliland has also predicted that his country will soon secure its first formal recognition of independence, possibly within the coming year. A former British colony, Somaliland united with what was known as Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic in 1960. Following the collapse of the central government in 1991, Somaliland declared its… Continue reading Analysis August 26, 2025 09:03 MIN Hadramawt on Edge: Public Outcry Exposes Governance Crisis By Mohammed al-Katheri The outbreak of violent protests across Hadramawt since late July has plunged the region into chaos, as political, military, and tribal groups vie for control of Yemen’s largest governorate. Persistent fuel shortages have caused severe blackouts in the capital, Mukalla, and other cities across Hadramawt, as hundreds of people have taken to the streets for weeks of protests. Chief among the protestors’ grievances has been failing public services, primarily severe electricity and water shortages. While security forces have attempted to restore order, and electricity provision has improved, continuing widespread demonstrations and the lack of a coordinated response from Hadramawt’s milieu of political actors point to a deeper and more systemic crisis. Recent developments have left many reconsidering the future of… Continue reading Main Publications August 4, 2025 08:01 MIN Yemen International Forum 2025 Report The third Yemen International Forum (YIF III) took place in Amman from February 16 - 18, 2025, gathering more than 300 participants to discuss peace prospects and stability in Yemen. Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Yemen has been tested in myriad ways. Attacks on the Red Sea and the rising prominence of the Houthis within the “Axis of Resistance” have thrust Yemen into regional conflict, undermining hope for an end to its decade-long war. Since the last YIF held in the Hague in June 2023, where discussions centered on cautious optimism for a potential peace settlement, Yemen has undertaken a dramatic U-turn. Peace efforts have taken a backseat while international attention has increasingly turned… Continue reading Yemen Review section July 22, 2025 14:58 MIN April-June 2025 Military and Security — The Yemen Review, April-June 2025 By William Clough Spring 2025 marked a turbulent new phase in Yemen’s conflict, as the region experienced one of its most volatile and contradictory periods in recent years. In the past three months, an intensified US air campaign, multiple Israeli airstrikes, a rumored anti-Houthi ground offensive, and direct military confrontation between Israel and Iran deepened regional instability and emboldened the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) as it seeks to position itself as the vanguard of the Axis of Resistance in the defense of Gaza against Israel and its Western allies. In Yemen, much of the early spring was defined by Operation Rough Rider, the 52-day US military campaign to degrade Houthi capabilities and secure maritime shipping. Launched on March 15, the operation rapidly surpassed… Continue reading Yemen Review section July 22, 2025 14:34 MIN April-June 2025 Politics and Diplomacy — The Yemen Review, April-June 2025 By Casey Coombs On May 3, Yemen’s embattled Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak resigned after just over a year in office, following months of clashes with Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) chief Rashad al-Alimi, as well as other PLC and cabinet members. Finance Minister Salem bin Breik was immediately named as his replacement. Bin Mubarak said his resignation stemmed from his efforts to assert his constitutional authority to overhaul the cabinet, an endeavor which was stymied by the PLC. He clashed repeatedly with Al-Alimi over his attempt to appoint 12 new ministers and resisted pushes by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to place loyal deputies in ministries. On March 7, only three ministers attended a cabinet meeting called by Bin Mubarak at Al-Maashiq… 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 April 28, 2025 05:16 MIN Yemen’s Parliament: A Legislative Authority in a Retirement Home By Tawfeek Al-Ganad Yemen’s parliament has come to resemble a retirement home. Elections for the legislature were last held 22 years ago on April 27, 2003. Since then, 60 Members of Parliament (MPs), or 20 percent, have died in office. The youngest sitting MP is now 47 years old, while many others have either lost their vitality and public presence to the passage of time or have passed away. More importantly, the body itself is inactive and unable to perform its constitutional duties. The mandate of Yemen’s parliament should have officially expired in April 2009. Article 65 of the Yemeni Constitution stipulates that “the term of the House of Representatives is six solar years starting from its first session. The President shall call… 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 Yemen Review section April 21, 2025 11:09 MIN January-March 2025 Military and Security By William Clough The first weeks of 2025 offered hope that peace in Gaza could offer a reprieve in Yemen, as Houthi (Ansar Allah) leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi announced on January 16 that the group would suspend its attacks on commercial vessels, and a January 19 letter to shipping companies stated that any future strikes in the Red Sea would be limited to Israeli-linked vessels. The decision seemed, at first, a watershed moment (attacks have been ongoing since November 2023), but experts familiar with Yemen were quick to note that little had changed in practice. While the strategy ostensibly brought the Houthis back to Phase One of their five-tier escalation strategy, the group has a well-documented history of mistakenly firing on ships that were… Continue reading