Q&A
Christopher Boucek
{
"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",
"Security",
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
Source: Getty
In The Media
The Rise of Al-Qaeda in Yemen
Yemen’s mounting security and economic issues require an international approach. Ultimately, aid to Yemen must address the long term stability issues the country is facing, not just American or regional security concerns.
Published on Jan 2, 2010
Source: C-SPAN's Washington Journal
Please Download Flash Plugin
Yemen faces a unique set of problems that are set to converge at the same time. The country is quickly running out of money, oil (which provides 80% of its income), and water. Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, may be the first modern capital to run out of water. The population is set to double in 20 years and unemployment is at 35 percent, on par with Great Depression numbers. All of these economic issues are exacerbated by rampant corruption and inflation. Moreover, Yemen faces major security challenges from a civil war in the north, a secessionist movement in the south, and a resurgent al-Qaeda.
The weak central government in Yemen does not have full control over all the territory in the country and it is in these under governed places that al-Qaeda has taken refuge, according to Christopher Boucek. Although al-Qaeda has recently become resurgent in the troubled country, ultimately these “long term economic issues will sink Yemen, not al-Qaeda,” notes Boucek. Boucek suggests that “Yemen’s problems need an international solution, there is not a solely American or regional solution” to the multiple problems the country faces.
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.
- Yemen After Saleh’s Return and Awlaki’s Exit
- Rivals—Iran vs. Saudi ArabiaQ&A
Christopher Boucek, Karim Sadjadpour
Recent Work
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
- A Halting Turn: India’s Military TransformationCommentary
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
- Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with ChinaPaper
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
- Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026Article
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
- India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible PathwaysArticle
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
- Emerging From the “Zombie State” of Trade Agreements: The India-EU FTACommentary
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
