Yemen and the Search for Stability: Power, Politics and Society After the Arab Spring

The attacks and blockade on Yemen by the Saudi-led multinational coalition have killed thousands and triggered humanitarian disaster. The longstanding conflict in the country between the Huthi rebels and (until December 2017) Salih militias on the one side and those loyal to the internationally recognized government and many other groups fighting for their interests on the other are said to have evolved into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In 2011, however, thousands of Yemenis had taken to the streets to protest for a better future for their country. When President Ali Abdullah Salih signed over power in the aftermath of these protests, there were hopes that this would signal the beginning of a new period of transition. Yemen and the Search for Stability focuses on the aspirations that inspired revolutionary action, and analyzes what went wrong in the years that followed. It examines the different groups involved in the protests - Salih supporters, Muslim Brothers, Salafis, Huthis, secessionists, women, youth, artists and intellectuals- in terms of their competing visions for the country's future as well as their internal struggles. This book traces the impact of the 2011 upheavals on these groups' ideas for a `new Yemen' and on their strategies for self-empowerment. In so doing, Yemen and the Search for Stability examines the mistakes committed in the country's post-2011 transition process but also points towards prospects for stability and positive change.