CIVIL WAR
IN
YEMEN
Tereza Corradi
Asia in International Relations
Unsuccessful story of the Arab spring
01.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Development 2015 - ?
Yemen between Iran and Saudi
Arabia?
Arabia Felix
Humanitarian crisis and
enviromental problems
History of Yemen
Roots of conflict
Rise of Houthis
Arab spring
From revolution to civil
war
03.
02.
04.
History of YemenFrom 1960´s
History of north and south Yemen
Unification
Rise of the Houthis
01.
South
End of the one-thousand-year Zaydi Imamate
(Descendants of Zayd bin Ali, great-great-grandson
of the Islamic prophet Muhammad)
1962 – Arab nationalist revolution in armed forces
Depostion of Zaidi immam Al Bader
:
NorthMutawakkilite kingdom of Yemen
:
People's Republic of Yemen
:
End of the colonial era
1939 – British protectorate formed
1967– withdrawal of UK from Aden
1969 – communist coup
:1972 – border clashes
Support: Saudi-led coalition (Jordan, Egypt, Iran, UK, US)
Support: Soviet Union, Iraq, Libya, Czechoslovakia, Cuba
: 1986 – civil war caused by power struggle among
the Yemeni Socialist Party
:
1978 – Saleh consolitadet power
:
History of Yemen
1990
Yemen united under Ali Saleh
Deported workers + mujahideen – AQAP (1991)
2004
Rise of Houthis
1994
Civil war - Saleh’s X al-Beidh’s troops
Rise of
HoutisFounded in north (Sa’dah)
Zaydi shia
Hussein al-Houthi
1990 - The Believing Youth
1997 - withdrew from Parliament
2004 – death
11 years long conflict Saleh X Houthis
(ceasefire 2011 befor arab Spring)
“God is great! Death to America! Death to Israel!
Curse the Jews! Victory to Islam!”
Arab spring
From revolution to civil war 2011 - 2015
02.
Who is who in Yemen?
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
Failed to improve Yemeni situation
2015 fled to Saudi Arabia
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Former president from north
Resignation in early 2012
The Houtis
Zaydi shia insurgent movement
2011 - 2015
After uprisings Ali Saleh step down and
Abdrabbuh Hadi took over
2013 - Establishment of NDC (elites participated)
2014 – Houthis took over the capital city
Hadi signed resignation, but withdrawn it later
:
2015
„… the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
launched military operations in
Yemen. The objective is to defend
the legitimate government of
President Hadi from the takeover
attempts by the Houthi militias…“
03.
The “players“
Saudi Arabia
Support of 8 other countries
3rd best equipped army – still losing?
Supports Southern Transitional
Council (STC)
West
USA
United kingdom
Iran
Supports the Houthis
Proxy war with Saudi Arabia
Al-Qaeda
Republic of Yemen Government
Houthi forces
Internationally recognized government (Hadi)
Backed by the Saudi-led coalition since 2015
The Houthi faction
Iran
“ …conflict in Yemen has no cost for us and even has some benefits “
Challenge of regional dominance
Shia religion – proxy war with Saudi Arabia?
Ali Abdullah Saleh
“I will lead the battle until the last Houthi is thrown out of Yemen”
Money for fighters, tribal and political loyalist networks
2017 – accusation of treason, death
Ahmed Ali Saleh
Gain of political power (more autonomy)
Access to Red sea and oil pipelines
The Hadi faction
USA
Sells weapons to Saudi Arabia / Bab al – Mandeb – 4,7 mil barrels of
oil/day
Terrorism
Trump veto - 2019
Saudi Arabia
Defence minister – crown prince Mohammed bin Salman
Domestic political power – facesaving war exit? (mails)
Missile attack Riyadh aiport – Qiam1?
Republic of Yemen Government – officialy recognized
Dependent on external backing - no popular base in Yemen
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulae
IS
Dominant terrorist group – officially opens operations in Yemen in
January 2009.
Intermarrying with the tribes of Yemen
Appeasement of locals - reparing roads/bridges, paying
salaries to hospital workers
2015 – port of Mukalla (port taxes) - ousted 2016
US drone strikes
Officialy exanded into Yemen on 13 November 2014
2015 – first attack (Houthi mosques, 500 wounded)
2020 - limited cooperation with Houthis against Al-qaeda
Failed to carry out AQAP-style community development projects
Development
2016
UN – inspection mechanism (vessels)
2018
UN – Stockholm agreement –
ceasefire in Hudaydah
2017
Saleh broke with the Houthis. Saleh
was killed and his forces defeated
within two days.
2019
ROYG X STC (Saudi Arabia X UEA) agreement in 2020
2020
Houtis X ROYG – Marib (oil fields)
Hassan Eyrlo – Iranian ambassador
STC joined a unity government with the ROYG
2021
Marib – Houtis gain 5 districts
Peace Efforts – Saudi Arabia X Houtis
Humanitarian
Enviromental
04. crisis
COVID-19 Pandemic
Food insecurity
‘worst humanitarian crisis in the world’
More than 80% of the population – 24 million
people dependent on humanitarian aid for basic
needs
Hodeida - humanitarian lifeline (food, medical aid)
Humanitarian Crisis
Cholera outbreak
Started in 2016
Largest in recorded history (claimed nearly 1.5
million lives)
Caused by the ingestion of contaminated food or
water
Enviromental problems
“Nine million [people] losing access to clean water and seven million losing access to food supplies.”
Failing Oil Tanker - 44-year-old floating storage and offloading (FSO) Vessel Safer.
No maintenance since 2015
Climate change – cyclones (2015, 2018), floods (2020)
rising sea levels - agricultural production on the coastal plains (best soil)
“...groundwater reserves would be depleted by about 2040 “
RESOURCES
● Kleemann, Steven. (2019). The Forgotten War: Yemen.
● Alsabri, Mohammed & Nighingale, Brandon & Amin, Mody & Cole, Jennifer. (2020). When COVID-19 hit
Yemen: dealing with the pandemic in a country under pressure from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
International Journal of Medicine and Public Health.
● La Zinu, Nurul. (2022). The Urgency to Address the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen.
● Helen Lackner, Abulrahman Al-eryani. (2020). Yemen’s Environmental Crisis Is the Biggest Risk for Its Future
● United nations. (2020). Without Access to Stricken Oil Tanker off Yemen, Under-Secretary-General, Briefing
Security Council, Warns of Environmental, Economic, Humanitarian Catastrophe
● Anthony H. Cordesman. (2017). The War in Yemen: Hard Choices in a Hard War. Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS)
● Haydee Dijkstal. (2019). Yemen and the Stockholm Agreement: Background, Context, and the Significance of
the Agreement. The American Society of International Law.
● War in Yemen. (2022). Council on Foreign Relations.
● Elisabeth Kendall. (2019). The Failing Islamic State Within The Failed State of Yemen