For seven decades, leaders and pundits from Yemen and Saudi Arabia have capitalized on the differences and conflicting interests between the two nations to advocate adversarial, often antagonistic relations and policies. Incompatibilities pointed out between the two states typically include republic vs. monarchy, poor vs. rich, left-leaning vs. right-leaning, chaotic vs. stable, etc. So, while Yemen depended and continues to…

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.”

The Yemeni governorate of Al-Mahra on the Arabian Sea bordering Oman has a unique cultural identity, its own ancient Semitic language and a distinct history. These factors have helped the governorate maintain its own customs and traditions and preserve social norms that maintain social cohesion and mitigate conflict.

This brief aims to shine a light on this rising level of discrimination – a wave that has turned a city long known for its tolerance and inclusion into one now forcing people out. The purpose of focusing on this transformation is to look at what measures could be taken to deal with this discrimination and to curb its effects.

Seven-year-old Salma woke up to the sound of a massive explosion on January 25, when coalition warplanes bombed Al-Hafa military camp, east of Sana'a, and fell from her bed in the darkness. Her terrified cries filled the house, and Salma ran looking for her parents in the next room as they raced to hers. The family collided halfway, falling to…

In October 2021, I published a series of reports with the Sana'a Center revealing deep failures in the humanitarian aid system in Yemen. Based on interviews with 73 aid workers, UN staff, analysts and experts, the reports described an inefficient and inappropriate humanitarian response driven by flawed data and beholden to myths. Key issues raised included the control of Houthi…

Relations between Iran and the Houthis were marginal 10 years ago; today, the Houthis are one of the most important partners in the network of armed non-state actors that Iran supports throughout the region. Studying the evolution of the Iran-Houthi partnership is difficult: there is limited publicly available information on the political dynamics between leaders on both sides or on…

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…

Early political party activity emerged in North Yemen in the 1930s and 1940s in opposition to the imamate, but it was limited in size and influence. In the South, small, weak parties composed of southern elites populated the political sphere, though they lacked a popular base. By the 1950s, with Arab nationalism and Islamic ideological movements on the rise regionally, Yemeni parties adopted the ideals of regional Baathists and Arab nationalists as well as the Arab Left and the Muslim…

The ongoing conflict in Yemen has resulted in protracted crises in public service provision in multiple sectors across the country. In Taiz governorate in central Yemen, the war has driven critical gas shortages, particularly in the besieged capital, Taiz city. Taiz city has been under either total or partial blockade by the armed Houthi movement since August 2015, a situation…