Yemen: A History Lesson

I don't think it's necessary to go back to time immemorial to understand what's going on in Yemen, although that seems to be a common trope in Middle East conflicts. Instead, let's go back to the 1960s. The division of Yemen goes back further, but that's ok. North Yemen became a monarchy after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and South Yemen had for some time been controlled with varying degrees of intensity by the British, whose primary interest was keeping hold of the Port of Aden. In 1962, Imam Muhammad al-Badr, the leader of North Yemen, was deposed by Nasser*-inspired pan-Arabists. He didn't go quietly, however, and a civil war broke out and continued until a ceasefire in 1970, with Imam Muhammad receiving Saudi support to regain his throne, while the rebels had Egyptian backing.

By this time, the heat in South Yemen was becoming too much for the British, as violence stemming from anti-imperialist sentiment spilled over from the North. In 1967, the British left and the People's Democratic Republic of South Yemen declared both its independence and its desire to wipe all monarchies off the map of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia, a monarchy ruled at that time by King Faysal (or Faisal), found itself facing two Yemens vehemently against monarchical rule: the North characterized by pan-Arab republican ideology, and the South dominated by Marxism. As early as 1972, reunification of North and South Yemen was anticipated, although no agreement was reached until 1979, and it was never implemented as planned, largely due to Saudi efforts to drive wedges by offering economic carrots to the North. A dude named Ali Abdullah Saleh became leader of North Yemen in 1978 following the assassination of his predecessor.

North and South Yemen continued on-again, off-again reunification negotiations until 1990, when they finally unified officially, under Saleh. Unfortunately, this coincided with the first Gulf War. Yemen's neutrality in the conflict brought on Saudi Arabia's wrath. In response to Yemen's refusal to send troops or condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors expelled nearly a million Yemeni expatriate workers (7% of the Yemen's total population). The combined stresses of reunification, the sudden influx of expelled workers, and growing feelings of exploitation in the oil-rich South were ultimately sufficient to start a civil war between North and South in 1994. The North emerged victorious in a matter of months; however, tensions never eased. Since the mid-90s, the national government has struggled to keep control over separatist and tribal factions in the South--or really anywhere outside the capital city of Sanaa'.

Up next: the past four months in Yemen.

*Gamal Abdel Nasser- president of Egypt from 1956-1970. Famous for his nationalization of the Suez Canal and his anti-imperialist, pan-Arabist (or Arab nationalist) philosophy.