Understanding the root causes of the conflict in Yemen

Abstract

Following the Arab Spring in 2011, Yemen’s devastating conflicts have deepened even further, leading the country to be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Despite the international community's multiple attempts to resolve this conflict, the conflict seems to have reached a stalemate. To make matters worse, resolving the conflict is made difficult by the large number of parties involved, internally and externally, and by the complex, dual and fluid nature of the relationships they share. Although the media and international community's focus is directed towards the binary conflict between the Hadi government and Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran and the Houthis on the other, the conflict is greatly multifaceted and far from being binary. This paper critically analyzes and explores other participating actors to comprehend the root causes of the conflict entirely. Although this conflict has been advertised as a proxy war, while others trace back the motivation to sectarianism, this paper argues how this analysis can be misleading and hindering the peace process.

The Role of Gulf Cooperation Council in Conflict Management, 1981–2019: A Comparative Study

“…However, as the Arab nationalist revolution spread across several Arab countries, the “Free-Yemenis” movement arose in the Yemeni midlands (Feierstein, 2019). In 1962, this movement overthrew the Zaydi Shia Imam Mohammed Al Bader (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020), the last imam of a 1,000-year-old dynasty (Orkaby, 2017). The republican forces triumphed, and the Zaydi’s long reign ended with the establishment of the modern Republic of Yemen—RoY (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020; Feierstein, 2019).…”

“…Although republican forces formally ended the Zaydi Imamate in Yemen, Zaydism still plays an important role in the country, with many Yemenis adhering to its rules. It also contributes to Yemen’s current sectarian divisions (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020). The 1962 revolution, which overthrew the imam’s rule in northern Yemen, sparked a long conflict between the tribes in the North and the modern RoY.…”

“…Because of their political influence, sheikhs, notably those of the Hashid and Bakil tribal confederations, competed for economic domination with the old midlands merchant elite (Feierstein, 2019). A civil war erupted in Yemen as a result of rivalry between Abdul Fattah Ismail, the head of the al-Toghmah Party, and Ali Nasser Mohammed, the leader of the Al Zomrah Party, as the two factions vied for control of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the People’s Democratic RoY or South Yemen (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020). This civil war significantly weakened the South, eventually leading to the union of Yemen’s South and North in 1990 (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020).…”

“…A civil war erupted in Yemen as a result of rivalry between Abdul Fattah Ismail, the head of the al-Toghmah Party, and Ali Nasser Mohammed, the leader of the Al Zomrah Party, as the two factions vied for control of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the People’s Democratic RoY or South Yemen (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020). This civil war significantly weakened the South, eventually leading to the union of Yemen’s South and North in 1990 (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020). The South and the North signed a unity agreement in April 1990, establishing the new Yemen, the RoY (Feierstein, 2019).…”

“…Because of the discrimination between the South and North, as well as the denial of the South’s right to participate in government and politics, 4 years after the unity agreement, some militias and separatists from southern Yemen attempted to split from the North and appear as an independent state. However, this movement did not attain its goals (Albasoos & Al Hinai, 2020). President Saleh’s neglect of the South lasted for many years, as the leaders of the North dominated important sectors, including the economic and financial sectors (Feierstein, 2019).…”