Theoretical Concepts and Historical Background

Abstract

This chapter presents the goal of the book, as well as the theoretical concepts and the historical background that are necessary tools for the analysis of the situation in Yemen since 2015. Through the explanation of theoretical concepts, the chapter presents the Marxist lens that is specifically adapted to suit a nation of the Middle East, which is part of the global South. Class struggle makes history, but in the era of monopoly-financial capital, this struggle is supplanted by the struggle of the nations of the South against imperialism. The role of the state is central in the class struggle—it is the tool for the political domination of one class over another, as well as the tool for asserting national sovereignty against imperialism. From such a Marxist lens, once Arab socialism failed in its class struggle against Israel and American Imperialism, the Arab nations lost a lot when it comes to national sovereignty and economic independence. They lost in terms of state power or state “strength.” Using this perspective to reframe the object of study (the Yemeni state today), history becomes central to every analysis. The chapter moves on to situate the relevant historical background of the collapse of the Yemeni state when relating to the Cold War and the “Arab Cold War” of the 1960s and 1970s. It presents some major historical tendencies in the history of Yemen (or of the two Yemen’s) from the 1960s up until the 1990s (mainly, the increased privatization of agriculture and the increased dependence on aid and remittances). One of the main arguments of the book is that the “disintegration” of the Yemeni state in terms of sovereignty did not start with the war in 2015, but right after the losses of Arab socialism against Israel around the end of the 1960s/beginning in the 1970s. These losses meant a major defeat for the Soviet Union against American Imperialism—which contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and to the rise of neoliberalism. This historical background serves to solidify this argument across the book by showing the important political and economic changes that occurred during and after the 1970s.