Yemen: Crossroads of Conflict
Yemen today faces a wealth of crises that threaten state failure. Its impoverished population of 25 million is expected to double by mid-century. Not only is the small hydrocarbon sector recognized to be at the end of its resources, Yemen is slated to be the first country to exhaust its water supply. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has managed to remain in power for decades by dispensing favors and playing tribes against one another, but he now faces a determined revolt by the Houthi movement in the north and a renewed independence movement in the south. Of paramount concern to the United States, al-Qa'ida has found space amid weak governance, corruption, neglect and opportunistic tribes to foster a rejuvenated network of Yemenis with jihadist experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
On 24 May 2010, CNA gathered a group of current and past policymakers, academics, and other regional experts to discuss the current situation in Yemen with a particular focus on how Yemen’s neighbors might influence, for good or ill, future outcomes. This report provides an overview of the most salient issues raised by the participants.
(To see a video interview with the report's author, Chris Steinitz, click here.)
