23 January, 2015

Yemen in Crisis | European Council on Foreign Relations

Yemen in Crisis | European Council on Foreign Relations:


It’s hard to divine which way things in Yemen are heading – an
uncertain situation has grown even more difficult to read. It appears
that the Houthis—who have enthusiastically taken aim at the president
and the cabinet over the past week’s crisis—are largely shocked that the
president has called their bluff. In the formerly independent South,
longstanding calls for secession have grown even louder. Across the
country, frustration seems mounting – both at the country’s power
brokers and at the international actors that, until recently, had hailed
the country’s political process as a model transition to democracy.





The next few days will unquestionably be crucial.  At writing time,
Houthi fighters reportedly have the homes of many members of the
now-resigned cabinet under siege. All eyes are set on Sunday’s meeting
of the two houses of the Yemeni parliament, which could very well reject
the president’s resignation, sending the country into further
uncertainty. Indeed, little remains clear at the moment, except for the
fact that the country is likely facing its most crucial juncture since
the overthrow of the Mutawakkilite Monarchy on 26 September, 1962.