Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Asher Orkaby

Asher Orkaby is an associate research scholar at Princeton University’s Transregional Institute and a residential fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

Benefiting from the Misery of Others
Food aid is prepared to be handed out to beneficiaries at a camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen by the local charity Mona Relief. March 2021. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
Current Analysis

Benefiting from the Misery of Others

Asher Orkaby examines the politics and unforeseen consequences of international aid in response to war and suffering in Yemen. He finds that much of the humanitarian aid actually exacerbates the war by fostering a lucrative wartime economy, disincentivizing peaceful resolutions and prolonging nation
Asher Orkaby • 14 min read