Yemen’s Modern Civil War

Abstract

This chapter studies the current conflict in Yemen. The Sa'dah wars (2004-2010) between Ali Abdullah Saleh's government and the Houthis ended without addressing the root causes of northern grievances against the Yemeni government. To their ultimate advantage, the Houthis were left with strategic military positions in the al-Jawf and Ma'rib regions. Between March of 2011 and September of 2014, while the rest of the country was overthrowing Saleh and setting up a transitional government, the Houthis were expanding their territorial possessions through military conquest, political alliances, and popularization of their Zaydi revivalist movement. Those targeted by the expansion of the Houthi movement included Salafi religious extremists and tribal opposition groups who had supported the Yemeni government's war against the north since 2004. The international media continue to focus significant attention on the growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The chapter then considers how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intervention in Yemen differed from that of Saudi Arabia, before reflecting on how the current conflict might be resolved.