Yemen in Crisis ─ Autocracy, Neo-liberalism and the Disintegration of a State

Yemen is in the grip of its most severe crisis in years. The civil war between the Huthi rebels and the Western and Arab supporters of the regime has resulted in thousands killed and three million displaced. Those who remain suffer severe food shortages and a collapsed economy.

The struggle for power in the Arab world's poorest but strategically vital nation has serious implications for the region and beyond. While Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear that a Huthi takeover would threaten free passage of oil through the Bab al-Mandab strait, western governments fear a rise of attacks from al-Qa'ida and Daesh as the country becomes more unstable. Iran has also been implicated in the conflict, accused of arming the Huthis.

In this invaluable analysis, Helen Lackner uncovers the social and political conflicts that threaten the very survival of the state and its people. She reveals the corruption of the country's US-backed autocratic regime and how it failed to address national impoverishment and its limited natural resources, and to plan an equitable economy for Yemen's growing population. Lackner concludes with an assessment of the current situation and prospects for the short and medium term future of this historical region.

Helen Lackner has spent the past four decades researching Yemen, working in the country for fifteen years, and is currently the editor of the Journal of the British-Yemeni Society. She was the 2016 Sir William Luce Fellow at Durham University and is a regular contributor to Oxford Analytica's briefs as well as to openDemocracy.