It's a shame when you see a country go so far downhill. So many different groups in Yemen fighting each other.
YEMEN: LAND OF FORGOTTEN BATTLES ANALYSIS
JULY 22, 2014
By IPRIS
By Mohamed Mansour Kadah
The vicissitudes of time cannot be more revealing. Yemen is known as the homeland of Qahtan, the fount of all true Arabs. Long before Christ, it was named Arabia Felix Happy Arabia by the Greeks and Romans, who became aware of the then riches of these lands thanks to trade in spices and coffee beans. Although Yemen has often been politically unstable throughout its history, old Yemeni civilizations such as Sheba, Himyar, Hadramawt and Main achieved power and prosperity. The fascinating stories of Queen of Sheba are but one example. With the passage of time and the uprooting of Yemenis for various reasons, civilizations in Yemen reverberated across its region, leaving indelible marks and historical influence as far as the lands of present-day Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq and Syria.
This has changed. Today, Yemen is the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula. Its Human Development Index ranking in 2012 was 160 out 187 countries. It also makes the UN list of 48 least developed countries. In real terms, Yemen faces daunting security, political, economic and developmental challenges. Rival tribal, sectarian and political allegiances fragment the Yemeni society and state institutions, including the military and security apparatus.
State resources are brazenly looted by a small clique of dominant tribal figures. State authority is generally weak, and mostly absent out of the capital and major urban centers. If you live in Yemen, you simply have no sense of security. Especially since the so-called youth revolution of February 2011, hardly a single day goes by without bloodshed. Notably, Yemenis are the most heavily armed population in the world after the Americans,1 and they are inclined to mete out their own form of justice directly. Over and above, lack of rule of law and impunity further complicate matters, leaving little hope of improvement in the security situation.
Continue reading at:
Yemen: Land Of Forgotten Battles - Analysis | Eurasia Review
YEMEN: LAND OF FORGOTTEN BATTLES ANALYSIS
JULY 22, 2014
By IPRIS
By Mohamed Mansour Kadah
The vicissitudes of time cannot be more revealing. Yemen is known as the homeland of Qahtan, the fount of all true Arabs. Long before Christ, it was named Arabia Felix Happy Arabia by the Greeks and Romans, who became aware of the then riches of these lands thanks to trade in spices and coffee beans. Although Yemen has often been politically unstable throughout its history, old Yemeni civilizations such as Sheba, Himyar, Hadramawt and Main achieved power and prosperity. The fascinating stories of Queen of Sheba are but one example. With the passage of time and the uprooting of Yemenis for various reasons, civilizations in Yemen reverberated across its region, leaving indelible marks and historical influence as far as the lands of present-day Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq and Syria.
This has changed. Today, Yemen is the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula. Its Human Development Index ranking in 2012 was 160 out 187 countries. It also makes the UN list of 48 least developed countries. In real terms, Yemen faces daunting security, political, economic and developmental challenges. Rival tribal, sectarian and political allegiances fragment the Yemeni society and state institutions, including the military and security apparatus.
State resources are brazenly looted by a small clique of dominant tribal figures. State authority is generally weak, and mostly absent out of the capital and major urban centers. If you live in Yemen, you simply have no sense of security. Especially since the so-called youth revolution of February 2011, hardly a single day goes by without bloodshed. Notably, Yemenis are the most heavily armed population in the world after the Americans,1 and they are inclined to mete out their own form of justice directly. Over and above, lack of rule of law and impunity further complicate matters, leaving little hope of improvement in the security situation.
Continue reading at:
Yemen: Land Of Forgotten Battles - Analysis | Eurasia Review
