UAE

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 12:31 MIN January-March 2025 Politics and Diplomacy — The Yemen Review, January-March 2025 By Casey Coombs The year-long Houthi (Ansar Allah) campaign of military attacks on Red Sea shipping came to a halt on January 19, following news of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Houthi leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi announced a conditional suspension of the attacks on US- and UK-affiliated shipping as long as Western airstrikes in Yemen ceased. However, the group said Israeli-linked vessels would still be barred from Red Sea transit and threatened to resume attacks if the Gaza ceasefire deal was broken. Two days into the ceasefire, the Houthis released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship the group had hijacked in November 2023. Houthi officials said the move came at the request of Hamas and Omani mediators. Despite the Houthi pause… Continue reading