By Mac Skelton
Many friends and colleagues have asked me to asses the current challenges facing Yemen. For the next few weeks, I will try to provide some perspective – limited as it is – based on my time there (July 2007 – May 2008 & June 2009).
In June 2009, I traveled to Yemen for a brief visit after a year away from the country. Tragic news had just broken from the northern region of Sah’da: nine European hospital workers had been kidnapped, and three of them had already been found dead.[1] A few days after the tragedy, one of my Yemeni friends Mohammed and I gathered a group of first-year college students at Old Sana’a University to discuss what had happened. As we congregated around a round table in the university courtyard, Mohammed posed this question to the group: “How can we save Yemen?”
I recorded the conversation that ensued: One student offered, “We must catch the one who kidnaps and banish him – a hard banishment – and in front of all the people.” Another replied, “But not one, a lot of people, not one! If there were one, then it’s OK, but there are a lot of people.” The unofficial leader of the group then added with quickened breath, “Wait I want to ask about what you said. You said that we have to catch the people that are doing these things…You say this as an easy way, but we can’t catch them! They are hiding in the mountains, so how, how? Give me a way that we can find them in the mountains and punish them!”
I left the conversation taken aback by the deep sense of confusion and exasperation that had dominated the exchanges. Indeed, the problems facing Yemen are numerous. Kidnappings and violence towards foreigners have increased. Saudi-introduced Salafism has created a new range of political and social challenges. The Houthi rebellion in the north has resulted in a massive population displacement. The secessionist movement in the South has gained momentum. Many experts believe that Sana’a will run out of water within the next few years. The country’s depletion of resources is exacerbated by the fact that Yemen boasts the fourth fastest growing population in the world. Finally, Al-Qaeda is resurgent.[2]
As a result of this litany of problems, doomsday scenarios have started to gain a sense of inevitability. Within a few years time, Yemen will devolve into utter chaos and Al-Qaeda will take advantage of the vacuum of power to establish a mega-haven, or so the reasoning goes. Some have proposed that the US send troops to Yemen to prevent such things from happening.
I don’t want to suggest that Yemen’s problems are not severe. But, in my view, we should pause to remember the long history and incredible resiliency of the Yemeni people. As Yemen expert Paul Dresch notes, “The country has been there continuously for some millennia, whatever foreigners may have come and gone, and doubtless it will be there a long time yet.”[3]
Over the last century alone, Yemenis have survived civil war, rapid modernization, a difficult unification, among many other trials. The current slate of challenges will test their mettle once again.
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[1] “Yemen recovers hostages’ bodies,” BBC News, 16 June 2009, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8100500.stm>.
[2] David Newton, “Addressing the Crisis in Yemen: Strategies and Solutions,” In a lecture given at the Middle East Institute, Washington, DC, January 2010.
[3] Paul Dresch, A History of Modern Yemen, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001) 214.
