Review- Conflict in Yemen: Simple People, Complicated Circumstances

Lucas Winter, a researcher at the Foreign Military Studies Office, brings about yet another aspect of contemporary Yemeni violence aside from the revolution. A small group of religious extremists in Saada, inspired by former Member of Parliament Hussein al-Houthi, took up arms against the Yemeni government in an attempt to seize by force a share of power greater than the “democratic means” would yield. This group appealed to Shi’a parties outside of Yemen such as Hezbollah and various groups in Iran to engage in guerrilla warfare tactics to restore the Imamate that was overthrow in 1962. In his article, Winter is attempting to do what others have not, which is to provide a “concise picture that highlights some of the conflict’s main issues” (102-03).

The beginnings of this conflict can be an example of the changing face of Islam especially in the Shi’a north when in 2003, Saleh arrested over 600 individuals in Saada after making anti-Semitic and anti-American chants during Friday prayer when Saleh expected to speak. Later, attacks began on government installations in the province by a Zaydi community. Soon began the campaigns of al-Houthi and the government’s counter campaigns against him to curb his influence. Year after year, fighting between the government and different Houthi groups have gotten closer and closer to the capital (104).

This article establishes the important role of the Houthi conflict within the greater context of the Yemeni revolution to remove Saleh from power and the implications of the revolution’s success of the Huthi movement. Certainly if the regime is attempting to establish their sovereignty in this territory, arguably for the first time- according to Lisa Weeden- then Saleh’s government is fighting in two fronts. This is exactly what President Saleh has continued to argue and he shamelessly couples the protests in Sana’a and Taiz with the struggles the government has had with the Houthis and al-Qaeda.

Before the Arab Spring, Saleh was struggling with a Houthi revolt in the north, separatist unrest in the south and a resurgent wing of al-Qaeda. Although the Houthi rebellion is generally demolished, the Islah Party (which is liken to the Muslim brotherhood), the Yazidis (both Sunnis and Salafis), and the Houthis are all united against Saleh. These groups have developed a coalition that is, at the very least, equally as powerful against the regime as the youth-based groups.

Winter, Lucas. "Conflict in Yemen: Simple People, Complicated Circumstances." Middle East Policy XVIII, no. 1 (2011): 102-120.