Why Yemen Matters: A Society in Transition ed. by Helen Lackner (review)

This collection of papers presented at a 2013 conference held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London provides nuanced analyses of pertinent issues and development hurdles facing Yemen. Helen Lackner’s thorough introduction contextualizes the diverse material covered in this book, which is divided into four parts: “Politics and Security,” “Regional Issues,” “Economic Development,” and “Society and Migration.” A chronology of events since 1839, two maps, a list of abbreviations, and suggestions for further reading render this book suitable for students, journalists, and policy-makers unfamiliar with Yemen as well as Yemen specialists.

Sheila Carapico’s “Yemen Between Revolution and Counter-Terrorism” opens the first section. It focuses on the doublebind faced by most Yemenis between their aspirations for good governance and “an intransigent domestic ruling class seeking to preserve the status quo, but also … the larger context of the outmoded Saudi-American-GCC ‘stability’ pact” (p. 29). In lively and succinct prose, Carapico describes the spread of peaceful demonstrations and their basis in indigenous forms of protest and dialogue. An important point is that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement and National Dialogue Conference exist(ed) within the context of deteriorating poverty, power cuts and global antiterrorism policies.

In the next chapter, Adam Seitz explores ways in which the uprisings of 2011 challenged global perceptions of Arab civil-military relations. He describes the regime of ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Salih’s military reform efforts and its utilization of United States counter-terrorism funding. This chapter is based entirely on secondary sources that apply hegemonic definitions of tribalism to Yemen. Consequently, Steitz tends to conflate cronyism with “tribalism” (pp. 50, 53–55) and appears to assume that tribal membership implies loyalty and allegiance (pp. 50–55), assumptions belied by Laurent Bonnefoy’s and Marieke Brandt’s chapters (discussed below). Much attention has been paid to the vibrant expressive forms that punctuated the 2011 demonstrations and life in Yemen’s tent cities. Katherine Hennessey completes this section with an informative discussion of traditions of activist theater in Yemen.

“Regional Issues” begins with Laurent Bonnefoy’s chapter on Yemeni youths’ relationship to Islamists, who have been accused of “hijacking” the liberal youth movement. Bonnefoy questions these assumptions, arguing that boundaries between diverse political groups are fluid, and their inclusion, “in the revolutionary process … [has] given it its irrepressible force” (p. 95). Although Bonnefoy discusses Islamist community organization, he fails to mention the facilitating role of generous Saudi funding or the strategic placement of Islah party supporters in key ministries. Bonnefoy’s implication that “socially conservative” tribes are natural allies of Islamists (p. 103) is debatable. Although piety is a major component of tribal honor, both tribal diversity and gender mixing in rural tribal communities, including traditional mixed gender dancing, are anathema to Islamists.

The next chapter, Marieke Brandt’s discussion of the complexities of tribal involvement in the Sa‘da War (the “Huthi conflict”), offers important detail and nuance to discussions on tribalism in Yemen. Brandt explains that continued warfare in Sa‘da was explainable by the former president’s changing strategies and “locally based patronage of tribal elites combined with their simultaneous exclusion from the higher echelons of power” (p. 120). She argues that, “it was not tribal involvement per se, but rather an erosion of tribal norms that contributed to the brutalization of the conflict” (p. 107).

Two chapters on South Yemen conclude this section. Noel Brehony presents a solid history of the formation of PDRY, the shaping of South Yemeni identity, and inherent contradictions in southern and northern expectations of unification, which led to the 1994 civil war and current secessionist claims. Susanne Dahlgren’s study of southern Yemeni youth today follows. In addition to demanding transparency in hiring practices, youth interviewed by Dahlgren appear to hold unrealistic expectations about government employment, based largely on an idealization of conditions in the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY...