The Confluence of Crises in Yemen

{
  "authors": [
    "Christopher Boucek"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "Yemen"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Economy",
    "Security",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

In The Media

The Confluence of Crises in Yemen

Yemen faces a host of economic and security challenges. In order to stabilize the country, a proper balance of short term counterterrorism measures and long term development assistance is needed.

By Christopher Boucek

Published on Jan 5, 2010

Source: BBC's World News America

Please Download Flash Plugin

Yemen faces a unique confluence of crises, with a failing economy that is running out of oil and water, 35 percent unemployment, massive population growth and a lack of cohesive central authority to govern and provide services to the whole country. Al-Qaeda has taken root in the areas beyond the reach of the Yemeni government. While the international community has long known of these multiple economic and security crises in Yemen, it is only now that serious attention is being paid to the country.

In order to face these challenges, Yemen is in dire need of both short and long term support from the United States and the international community. In the short term, intelligence sharing and technical cooperation are needed to help perform counter-terrorism measures. However, “it is not al-Qaeda that will doom Yemen. In order to stabilize the country, economic, resource, and human security issues must be addressed,” notes Christopher Boucek.

About the Author

Christopher Boucek

Former Associate, Middle East Program

Boucek was an associate in the Carnegie Middle East Program where his research focused on security challenges in the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa.

Recent Work

Q&A
Yemen After Saleh’s Return and Awlaki’s Exit
- Christopher Boucek
Q&A
Rivals—Iran vs. Saudi Arabia
- Christopher Boucek, Karim Sadjadpour

Political Reform Economy Security Foreign Policy Middle East Yemen

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie India

Commentary
A Halting Turn: India’s Military Transformation
In any defense establishment, change is an ongoing process. However, despite the best of intentions, existing bureaucracies, bound by habit and years of socialization, have their limits in implementing transformative change.
Anit Mukherjee
Paper
Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with China
After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.
Saheb Singh Chadha
Article
Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026
This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.
Vrinda Sahai
Article
India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways
A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.
Rajiv Bhatia
Commentary
Emerging From the “Zombie State” of Trade Agreements: The India-EU FTA
The India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is shaping up to be one of the most consequential trade negotiations, both economically and strategically. But, what’s in the agreement, what’s missing, and what will determine its success in the years ahead
Vrinda Sahai, Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki

More Work from Carnegie India

Commentary

A Halting Turn: India’s Military Transformation

In any defense establishment, change is an ongoing process. However, despite the best of intentions, existing bureaucracies, bound by habit and years of socialization, have their limits in implementing transformative change.

Anit Mukherjee

Paper

Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with China

After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.

Saheb Singh Chadha

Article

Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026

This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.

Vrinda Sahai

Article

India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways

A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.

Rajiv Bhatia

Commentary

Emerging From the “Zombie State” of Trade Agreements: The India-EU FTA

The India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is shaping up to be one of the most consequential trade negotiations, both economically and strategically. But, what’s in the agreement, what’s missing, and what will determine its success in the years ahead

Vrinda Sahai, Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki