Ongoing bilateral talks between Saudi Arabia and the armed Houthi movement have renewed optimism that a negotiated political settlement in Yemen might yet be possible. But the talks are an exclusively Saudi initiative and threaten to serve only the narrow interests of their current participants. To date, their primary effect has been the easing of restrictions on imports to Hudaydah,…
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Read also in The Yemen Review
Government Instability Overshadows Truce – The Yemen Review, July 2022 August 12, 2022 The Yemen Review
Taiz Siege Continues as Talks Face Roadblocks – The Yemen Review, June 2022 July 11, 2022 The Yemen Review
Despite Headwinds, Truce Flies On – The Yemen Review, May 2022 June 9, 2022 The Yemen Review
Changing of the Guard – The Yemen Review, April 2022 May 3, 2022 The Yemen Review
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The Sana'a Center Editorial The Saudi-Houthi Talks Are Dangerously Exclusive
Reports of bilateral peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the armed Houthi movement have been trickling out since last October, and their recent confirmation in media reports has fueled widespread optimism and speculation. The talks should be welcomed as a step toward ending Yemen’s disastrous war. But to establish a lasting peace, they must quickly expand to include representation of…
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Yemen Annual Review 2022
The past year has been one of extreme consequence for Yemen. The war has entered a new phase of low-level violence and economic warfare. Casualties are down since a truce was signed in April, and have remained relatively low even after its acrimonious expiration in October. The internationally recognized government has sworn in a new executive body, but it has…
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Govt Agrees Financial Aid as Houthis Target Oil Sector – The Yemen Review, November 2022
Hopes faded that the expired truce would be revived in November, as Houthi authorities dug in their heels over maximalist demands that caused the talks’ collapse and then upped the ante with a series of drone and missile attacks on southern ports. The attacks crippled oil and gas revenues, though International Monetary Fund, Saudi, and Emirati support has given the…
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Houthis Target Southern Ports – The Yemen Review, October 2022
The UN-backed truce between the Houthi movement and the internationally recognized government was allowed to expire on October 2. Efforts to secure its further extension failed following a last-minute demand by Houthi negotiators to add military and security personnel to a payroll of public sector employees. The breakdown of the talks was followed by mutual recriminations, even as Saudi Arabia…
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The Sana'a Center Editorial Deescalate the Economic War
After weeks of warnings, Houthi authorities followed through on their threat to target Yemen’s oil and gas industry, striking near oil terminals in Shabwa and Hadramawt. There was no damage from the drone strikes, but they did result in a temporary halt in oil exports, diminishing revenues for the already cash-strapped government. If the attacks achieve their intended effect of…
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The Sana'a Center Editorial Women’s Rights are Non-Negotiable
Houthi restrictions on women’s rights have become increasingly oppressive in recent months. Retrograde efforts to control women are ever more common, most conspicuously through the procedure of requiring the approval of a male guardian, or mahram, for all manner of activities. The mahram can be any male member of the family, including the father, husband, brother, or even a young…
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Truce Expires as Internal Divisions Deepen – The Yemen Review, September 2022
The truce between the internationally recognized government and the armed Houthi movement, in place since April, was allowed to expire without renewal on October 2. The UN-facilitated agreement engineered the longest period of relative peace of the war. September saw intensive negotiations to extend and expand the truce, and optimism was high throughout the month, but talks broke down when…
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The Sana'a Center Editorial Saving the Truce
The five-month-old truce in Yemen has been a net good for Yemenis and preserving it should be a priority. After more than seven years of ruinous war, the truce has brought the relief of quiet frontlines, the suspension of air strikes, the reopening of the port of Hudaydah for fuel shipments, and the resumption of civilian air flights in and…
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Showdown in Shabwa Shakes Government – The Yemen Review, August 2022
Long-running tensions between the Islamist Islah party and UAE-backed groups in Shabwa erupted into open conflict in August, with the Giants Brigades and STC-aligned Shabwa Defense forces driving Islah-aligned military and security forces from the governorate. The expulsion of Islah from Shabwa and the STC’s subsequent takeover of much of neighboring Abyan governorate raised questions about the ability of the…
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