Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The principal opposition coalition is threatening to boycott April parliamentary elections.
Arab regimes that have long been friendly to the United States are increasingly reluctant to follow Washington’s lead on any issue. They are not enemies of the United States, but they are not faithful allies, either. Rather, they follow the policies they believe best protect their interests, regardless of what the United States wants.
Despite limited electoral success, Islamist movements in the Middle East have failed to influence policy and are criticized by their base for abandoning their religious commitments. Marina Ottaway and Amr Hamzawy explain that Islamist movements must convince their supporters that political participation is the best long-term means to affect government despite seemingly poor short-term gains.
The bombings of the U.S. embassy in Sana’a this past September points to possibilities of an increased presence of Al-Qaeda in Yemen. Understanding the context in which Jihadi groups emerge, the role of apolitical Salafi groups in the broader Salafism debate, and Saudi Arabia's role in defining the global Salafi movement is vital for the creation of proper policy responses in the region.
One of President-elect Barack Obama's top priorities will be to rethink the "war on terror" from the ground up. That means following through on his campaign promises to close the US military prison at Guantánamo, which would be a major symbolic achievement.
More than one-third of the remaining 255 detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay are Yemenis, representing the single largest national contingent.
If President-elect Obama closes Guantanamo, as he pledged to on the campaign trail, the administration will have to figure out what to do with the remaining detainees. One option is a rehabilitation program modeled on a successful Saudi initiative that includes intensive counseling sessions, help finding employment, and, crucially, religious dialogue with imams.
The recent attacks on the U.S. embassy in Sana’a illustrates Yemen’s continuing struggle to fight terrorism. Less recognized are the government’s efforts to develop a “soft” strategy for combating extremist ideology.
Islah, Yemen's Islamist party, had its poorest showing yet in elections for the lower house of parliament on April 27, 2003. Islah won just 46 of 301 seats, down from 56 in 1997 and 63 in 1993. Islah gained nine new seats in the capital, Sanaa, but lost in several traditional strongholds. The ruling General People's Congress (GPC) party gained a more-than-comfortable 75 percent majority.
The Republic of Yemen looks relatively democratic compared to its neighbors. While Saudi Arabia is now holding local elections and smaller Gulf states have taken modest steps towards increased political participation in recent years, until now only the Kuwaiti parliament (the only such assembly in the world elected by a small male electorate) has been a force to be reckoned with.