Yemen’s Democracy Experiment in Regional Perspective PDF Download

Author: S. Phillips
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230616488
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

View

Book Description
This study examines the nature of changes to Yemen's power structures, political dynamics and institutions since the intention to democratize was announced in 1990 paying particular attention to the role of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Author: Uzi Rabi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857725319
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 294

View

Book Description
Yemen, tucked into the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, has often escaped regional and international attention. And yet its history illuminates some of the most important issues at play in the modern Middle East: from Cold War rivalries to the growth of Islamic extremism in the 1990s, and from the rise of 'Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula' (AQAP) in the post-9/11 period to Obama-era drone strikes. Uzi Rabi looks at this country and its economic and political history through the prism of state failure. He examines Yemen's trajectory from revolutions and civil war in the 1960s to unification in the 1990s and on to the 2011 uprisings which eventually saw the fall from power of Ali Abdallah Salih in 2012. Covering the twentieth-century history of Yemen from traditional society to a melting-pot of revolutions accompanied by foreign intervention, Uzi Rabi's book offers an analysis of a state that is failing, both in terms of day-to-day functioning, and in terms of offering its citizens a modicum of security. Rabi covers the initial rulers of the country, Imam Yahya and his descendents, who ruled Yemen until 1962. But with the growing influence of Gamal Abd al-Nasser's vision of Arab nationalism, and the defeat the British and their allies in November 1967, the way was paved for the formation of South Yemen: the only declared Marxist regime in the Arab world. Rabi tracks the turbulent political history of the two Yemens, in particular South Yemen, which between 1967 and 1986 saw five presidents come and go, three of whom were ousted by violent means. But with unification came a new set of problems concerning poverty, terrorism and corruption. Rabi's analysis of the political beginnings, rule and eventual downfall of Salih are key to understanding all of these, and how they have contributed to Yemen's current explosive condition. Drawing extensively on Arabic sources, many of which are not available in the English language, Rabi offers important analysis on the volatility of the state in Yemen. Based on freshly examined materials, this book is a vital reference of any examination of the country's twentieth-century history and its impact on the current unstable situation in the wider Middle East.

Author: Laurent Bonnefoy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190050292
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

View

Book Description
Winner of the Académie Française's Prix Eugène Colas Contemporary Yemen has an image problem. It has long fascinated travelers and artists, and to many embodies both Arab and Muslim authenticity; it stands at important geostrategic and commercial crossroads. Yet, strangely, global perceptions of Yemen are of an entity that is somehow both marginal and passive, yet also dangerous and problematic. The Saudi offensive launched in 2015 has made Yemen a victim of regional power struggles, while the global 'war on terror' has labelled it a threat to international security. This perception has had disastrous effects without generating real interest in the country or its people. On the contrary, Yemen's complex political dynamics have been largely ignored by international observers--resulting in problematic, if not counterproductive, international policies. Yemen and the World offers a corrective to these misconceptions and omissions, putting aside the nature of the world's interest in Yemen to focus on Yemen's role on the global stage. Laurent Bonnefoy uses six areas of modern international exchange--globalization, diplomacy, trade, migration, culture and militant Islamism--to restore Yemen to its place at the heart of contemporary affairs. To understand Yemen, he argues, is to understand the Middle East as a whole.

Author: Michele Lamprakos
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317171098
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

View

Book Description
"Society of Architectural Historians Spiro Kostof Book Award, Honorable Mention, 2018" The conservation of old Sanaa is a major cultural heritage initiative that began in the 1980's under the auspices of UNESCO; it continues today, led by local agencies and actors. In contrast to other parts of the world where conservation was introduced at a later date to remediate the effects of modernization, in Yemen the two processes have been more or less concurrent. This has resulted in a paradox: unlike many other countries in the Middle East that abandoned traditional construction practices long ago, in Yemen these practices have not died out. Builders and craftsmen still work in 'traditional' construction, and see themselves as caretakers of the old city. At the same time, social forms that shaped the built fabric persist in both the old city and the new districts. Yemenis, in effect, are not separated from their heritage by an historical divide. What does it mean to conserve in a place where the 'historic past' is, in some sense, still alive? How must international agencies and consultants readjust theory and practice as they interact with living representatives of this historic past? And what are the implications of the case of Sanaa for conservation in general? Building a World Heritage City addresses these questions and also fosters greater cultural understanding of a little known, but geopolitically important, part of the world that is often portrayed exclusively in terms of unrest and political turmoil.

Author: Francesco Cavatorta
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136963383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 187

View

Book Description
This book examines civil society in the Arab world and how authoritarian constraints impact on democratization. It includes case studies from across the region and analyses the divisions between Islamist organizations and secular/liberal ones.

Author: Abel Polese
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429607660
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 247

View

Book Description
Alternative forms of government and statehood exist in the Middle East and North African regions. The chapters in this volume demonstrate this and explore the notion of power from a non-statist perspective, highlighting the limits of states and their governance. Using empirical evidence from Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen, and Mali, the authors explore non-standard cases where power may be retained by a state but must be shared with a number of local actors, resulting in limited statehood and hybrid governance, which leads to competition and sharing of symbolic and political power within a state. This book is intended to prompt a critical reflection on the meaning of governance. It will illuminate informal structures which deserve attention when studying governance and power dynamics within a state or a region. This book was originally published as a special issue of Small Wars & Insurgencies.

Author: Victoria Clark
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300167342
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

View

Book Description
"Yemen is the dark horse of the Middle East. Every so often it enters the headlines for one alarming reason or another -- links with al-Qaeda, kidnapped Westerners, explosive population growth -- then sinks into obscurity again. But, as Victoria Clark argues in this riveting book, we ignore Yemen at our peril. The poorest state in the Arab world, it is still dominated by its tribal makeup and has become a perfect breeding ground for insurgent and terrorist movements. Clark returns to the country where she was born to discover a perilously fragile state that deserves more of our understanding and attention. On a series of visits to Yemen between 2004 and 2009, she meets politicians, influential tribesmen, oil workers and jihadists as well as ordinary Yemenis. Untangling Yemen's history before examining the country's role in both al-Qaeda and the wider jihadist movement today, Clark presents a lively, clear, and up-to-date account of a little-known state whose chronic instability is increasingly engaging the general reader"--Publisher description.

Author: Gregory S. Mahler
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438496206
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

View

Book Description
The nation-state is seen by many today as the key unit of analysis for international organization and cooperation in the modern age, but not all groups that want to make up and control their own nation-state are able to do so: historical factors, domestic politics, and international relations often prevent them from obtaining sovereign power. Groups that have tried to create a nation-state and failed to do so can be referred to as being "frustrated." Frustrated Nationalism offers case studies by an international collection of scholars who describe the efforts of many of those groups to achieve sovereign status, or at least to obtain greater control over the policies that affect them, their strategies, and their outcomes.

Author: Hendrik Jan Kraetzschmar
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317967364
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

View

Book Description
Within the democratisation literature, opposition unity is widely seen as an important requisite to successfully pressure authoritarian rulers into liberalising reforms and in bringing about democratic change. Taking up on this theme, this book examines the myriad ways in which opposition groups across the Arab world have sought to coalesce into broader reform coalitions at the local, national and transnational levels to challenge authoritarian incumbents and their policies. Drawing on original case studies from the region, it sheds light on the diverse nature and objectives of these reform coalitions, and explores the challenges opposition groups face in Arab states in uniting behind a common reform agenda and in driving this agenda forward. Be they electoral pacts, local government coalitions, broader opposition alliances or networks of resistance, this book demonstrates that, although widespread, the record of collective opposition activism in the Arab world is mixed, with many reform coalitions lacking the necessary cohesion and mass appeal to effectively mobilise for change. This book was originally published as a special issue of British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

Author: Helen Lackner
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788735544
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

View

Book Description
Expert analysis of Yemen's social and political crisis, with profound implications for the fate of the Arab World The democratic promise of the 2011 Arab Spring has unraveled in Yemen, triggering a disastrous crisis of civil war, famine, militarization, and governmental collapse with serious implications for the future of the region. Yet as expert political researcher Helen Lackner argues, the catastrophe does not have to continue, and we can hope for and help build a different future in Yemen. Fueled by Arab and Western intervention, the civil war has quickly escalated, resulting in thousands killed and millions close to starvation. Suffering from a collapsed economy, the people of Yemen face a desperate choice between the Huthi rebels on the one side and the internationally recognized government propped up by the Saudi-led coalition and Western arms on the other. In this invaluable analysis, Helen Lackner uncovers the roots of the social and political conflicts that threaten the very survival of the state and its people. Importantly, she argues that we must understand the roots of the current crisis so that we can hope for a different future for Yemen and the Middle East. With a preface exploring the US’s central role in the crisis.