Tag Archives: Yemen
Middle Eastern Religious Identities
What is the religious makeup of Middle Eastern countries? How does this affect the fragility of countries?
As Bernard Lewis wrote in The Multiple Identities of the Middle East, the region is made up of “old and deep-rooted identities” and that
not nationality, not citizenship, not descent, but religion, or more precisely membership of a religious community, is the ultimate determinant of identity.
Knowing the strength and geographical spread of these identities is crucial for identifying potential fault lines and devising measures to reduce their saliency. Stability in many places depends on ensuring political settlements are inclusive. Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Iraq, and Yemen are all struggling to find a proper balance in their deeply divided states.
This map shows detail from Egypt to Afghanistan and everything in between.
Recent Articles on Fragile States Worth Reading
See below for links on the DRC, Burundi, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Mauritania, Libya, the relationship between ethnicity and corruption, a new synthesis of recent research, and the new structural economics. (more…)
More on Africa, Central Asia, Conflict and Security, South Asia
Has (Former) Yemeni President Saleh Really Ceded Power?
“I have 33 years of experience in power and I know the difficulties, I know the negatives and positives. The one who clings to power is mad.” – Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen
March 11, 2011: Yemen’s Leader Proposes Shifting Some Powers
March 25, 2011: President Saleh of Yemen Is in Talks on Exit
April 6, 2011: Saleh determined to set exit terms
April 24, 2011: Yemen’s president agrees to resign
May 19, 2011: Yemeni President to Sign Agreement to Leave Power
May 21, 2011: Saleh Calls for Early Elections in Yemen
June 6, 2011: Protesters in Yemen Rejoice as Leader Goes to Saudi Arabia
June 10, 2011: Saleh’s relatives retain much power in Yemen
August 10, 2011: Yemen’s Saleh says will leave power in coming days
September 13, 2011: Yemeni Leader Says Deputy Can Pursue Deal to Transfer Power
September 24, 2011: Yemen’s President Saleh Abruptly Returns From Saudi Arabia
September 26, 2011: Saleh Confirms Support for Yemen Transfer of Power
September 30, 2011: Saleh says he won’t resign until rivals are out
October 9, 2011: Yemen’s Leader Says He’ll ‘Reject Power’; Foes Are Skeptical
October 10, 2011: Yemen president wants to leave power
November 14, 2011: Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh says he’ll step down in 90 days — maybe
November 23, 2011: Yemen Leader, Saleh, Agrees to End 3-Decade Rule
November 28, 2011: Yemen’s President Orders Amnesty Despite Ceded Power
February 20, 2012: Saleh Cedes Authority in Yemen, but Hopes to Retain Influence
What do you think?
Is Yemen Breaking Apart?
When central authority is weak or nonexistent, local authority of some nature replaces it.
In some countries, this local authority may actually be better organized, and more able to deliver competent public services than the state. Somaliland, for instance, has done much better than Somalia ever did for the people who live in the area it controls. In Afghanistan, the most successful public sector programs were implemented in a way that allowed local communities to manage them.
Of course, this is not always the case. Parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have fallen into chaos in the absence of any semblance of a state. Nigeria’s repeated bursts of violence and terrorism (in the Niger Delta and more recently in the north) can be at least partially traced to the inability of that country’s government to effectively govern at any level.
Yemen is a case study on how these processes work their way out. Central authority has always been weak. The strength of the country’s tribes provide an alternative foci for people’s loyalties and an alternative source of public goods. (more…)
