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4 - Yemen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2020

Stephen J. King
Stephen J. King
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
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Summary

Chapter 4 tracks Yemen’s democratic transition and descent into civil war. Like Libya, Yemen entered the Arab Spring with severe national unity and state-capacity challenges. National unity collapsed in Yemen when the military fired on protestors and some soldiers and officers defected to the uprising. In addition, in Yemen, during the democratic transition, potent political parties never emerged to represent the secular youth who spearheaded the regime. Houthi rebels, the main challengers to the prior regime under Saleh’s rule, also felt left out of the transition process. Lastly, political parties also failed to forge consensus on conflicts between the former North Yemen and South Yemen, which prevented a democratic bargain or political pact. Yemen was also the poorest country in the region making it exceptionally vulnerable to socioeconomic challenges.

Keywords

National Dialogue ConferenceHouthisSouthern MovementSaudi Arabia
Type
Chapter
Information
The Arab Winter
Democratic Consolidation, Civil War, and Radical Islamists
 , pp. 211 - 248
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Yemen
  • Stephen J. King, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: The Arab Winter
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108769792.005
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Yemen
  • Stephen J. King, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: The Arab Winter
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108769792.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Yemen
  • Stephen J. King, Georgetown University, Washington DC
  • Book: The Arab Winter
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108769792.005
Available formats
×