This book explains why the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen has embarked on an unexpected path, providing a cogent outline of its venerable and turbulent history and a succinct description of its geography, culture, natural resources, and economy.

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.

Yemen has experienced wrenching changes that have transformed the country in yet unknown ways. The country exploded in a popular revolution against the long-time rule of Ali Abdallah Saleh. While the country appeared to slip toward civil war, Yemeni political elite rallied with international backers to put together a transitional government with a plan to revise the country’s constitution. The transitional government began with a cautious sense of optimism and the prospect of substantial change for the better, but ended in collapse because of a failure to govern. The politics of the street overran an ineffective transitional government that could not address the urgent concerns of Yemeni citizens for security and jobs. Instead, populist leaders exploited people’s dissatisfactions and threw the country into civil war. The Houthi organization covertly allied with its former enemy, Ali Abdallah Saleh, to overthrow the transitional government and declare war on the rest of the country. Saleh seems unable to conceive of life outside of the Presidential Palace and his Houthi allies appear to believe they are destined to rule. Unfortunately, those opposed to Saleh and the Houthi also seem unable to provide effective rule in spite of massive backing from the Gulf States. The incompetence, infighting, and incoherence of the Hadi government bode equally ill for the future of the country. The one hope may be that a new generation of Yemeni leaders emerges to displace the dismal failures of this one. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Yemen contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Yemen.

Based on years of in-depth field research, this book unravels the complexities of the Yemeni state and its domestic politics with a particular focus on the post-1990 years. The central thesis is that Yemen continues to suffer from regional fragmentation which has endured for centuries. En route the book discusses the rise of President Salih, his tribal and family connections, Yemen's civil war in 1994, the war's consequences later in the decade, the spread of radical movements after the US military response to 9/11 and finally developments leading to the historic events of 2011. This book sets a new standard for scholarship on Yemeni politics and it is essential reading for anyone interested in the modern Middle East, the 2011 Arab revolts and twenty-first-century Islamic politics.

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.

This report, first published in 1985, was compiled by members of the People¿s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) and is an interesting historical document. Because of the PDRY¿s own political orientation the leadership, when it came to power, sought help, advice and assistance from other Communist governments. Among these was China. By historical coincidence that country at the time of the PDRY¿s delegation visit was engulfed in what we know as the Cultural Revolution. Very few official foreign delegations were received by the Chinese at the time and so this report becomes doubly interesting as it sheds a fascinating light on the political situation in both countries at that time. More importantly, it represents one of the rare pieces of published material on China and the Arab World