MER Article

Explosions and Ill Omens

On October 9, 2014, a suicide bomber detonated himself in central Sanaa, killing dozens of innocent people. Upon reading the news coverage of this terrible event my thoughts leapt back to a series of plays that I had seen performed in Sanaa in the spring. Most of these performances took place under

Katherine Hennessey • 13 min read

MER Article

Chanting for Southern Independence

“Our revolution is the South Arabian revolution,” shouted five or six men at a march in Crater, a district of Aden, on March 20, 2014. The mass of demonstrators answered in unison: “Get out, get out, o colonial power!” The call-and-response pattern continued: “Our revolution is the South Arabian rev

Anne-Linda Amira Augustin • 6 min read

MER Article

A Poor People's Revolution

“This is no longer a movement,” said the young man whose Facebook name is Khaled Aden. “This is a revolution.”

Susanne Dahlgren • 9 min read

MER Article

The Breakdown of the GCC Initiative

On September 21, 2014, fighters of Ansar Allah, loyal to the Houthi movement based in the northern highlands of Sa‘ada, conquered Yemen’s capital. Militants occupied the home of 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman, a leader of the 2011 uprising against the regime of President ‘Ali ‘Abdalla

Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Sheila Carapico • 12 min read

MER Article

From the Editor (Winter 2014)

Midway through Barack Obama’s second term as president, there are two Establishment-approved metanarratives about his foreign policy. One, emanating mainly from the right, but resonating with several liberal internationalists, holds that Obama is unequal to the task of running an empire. The preside

Chris Toensing • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Southern Yemen After the Fall of Sanaa

The mysteries in the September events in Sanaa [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/world/middleeast/yemens-prime-minister-resigns-amid-chaos-and-another-cease-fire.html?_r=0] loom large. Who decided that security forces should not try to stop the Houthis from entering the Yemeni capital? Why didn’t H

Susanne Dahlgren • 3 min read

Current Analysis

State Department Taking Passports Away from Yemeni-Americans

Over the past year, dozens of Yemeni-Americans visiting their ancestral homeland have had their US passports summarily revoked or confiscated by the embassy in Sanaa without any clear legal basis, effectively stranding them outside the United States. Last month, a coalition of US civil rights groups

The Editors • 6 min read

MER Article

Drama in Yemen

On May 11, 2013, armed tribesmen stormed the Cultural Center in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, demanding that the activity in progress immediately cease. A minister of the Yemeni government was whisked away by underlings from his front-row seat and out a side door; the assembled crowd quickly disperse

Katherine Hennessey • 12 min read

Current Analysis

What About 'Abd al-Rahman al-Awlaqi?

The US government wanted to kill Anwar al-Awlaqi long before [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-a-us-citizen-in-americas-cross-hairs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0] a CIA-JSOC drone strike actually succeeded in doing so on September 30, 2011. Before and after that deadly s

Lisa Hajjar • 3 min read

Current Analysis

An Interview with Huda al-‘Attas

Huda al-‘Attas is an activist for women’s rights, an author of short stories and a teacher of sociology at the University of Aden. Aden was the capital of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), which existed from 1970 to 1990 under the governance of the Yemeni Socialist Party. Al-‘Attas i

Anne-Linda Amira Augustin • 8 min read

Current Analysis

Southern Yemeni Activists Prepare for Nationwide Rally

For the first time, a Million-Person Rally [https://www.facebook.com/South.Arabia.2014] or milyuniyya will be held in Yemen’s oil-rich eastern province of Hadramawt.[/sites/default/files/dahlgren1.png] It is being called milyuniyyat al-huwiya al-junubiyya or the Million-Strong Rally for Southern Ide

Susanne Dahlgren • 2 min read

Current Analysis

Seven Questions for Ammar Basha

Ammar Basha is a Yemeni filmmaker. His documentary films include Breaking the Silence [http://womensvoicesnow.org/watchfilm/breaking_the_silence1], about the discrimination faced by working women of African descent in Yemen, and a series called Days in the Heart of the Revolution, about the 2011 Yem

Sheila Carapico • 6 min read