In this book, Bruce Riedel, one of America’s leading experts on the Middle East, provides a history of US relations with the various entities of north and south Yemen, and the first in-depth review of America’s role in the deadly Saudi directed war in the Yemens. Three Presidents—Obama, Trump, and Biden-- have been deeply involved in this conflict. Riedel places this current war in the context of America’s history of engaging with the Yemens. From President Kennedy’s handling of a Soviet and Egyptian coup in Yemen in the fall of 1962 to multiple Presidents interaction with the dictator Ali Abdallah Salih who united the Yemens this is a fascinating story with a colorful cast of characters, America and the Yemens will be of interest to readers seeking to have a better understanding of America’s role in the Middle East and the tragic encounter that has created the worst humanitarian catastrophe in our lives.
“The best new book on al Qaeda . . . and the best book on Yemen in years.”—Bruce Riedel, Daily Beast Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers in an unforgiving corner of Arabia. The Last Refuge charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen over the last thirty years, detailing how a group that the United States once defeated has now become one of the world’s most dangerous threats. An expert on Yemen who has spent years on the ground there, Gregory D. Johnsen uses al-Qaeda’s Arabic battle notes to reconstruct their world as they take aim at the United States and its allies. Johnsen brings readers in-side al-Qaeda’s training camps and safe houses as the terrorists plot poison attacks and debate how to bring down an airliner on Christmas Day. The Last Refuge is an eye-opening look at the successes and failures of fighting a new type of war in one of the most turbulent countries in the world.
In theory, this treatise should include the more than 115 countries that the United States has military presence and the Central Intelligence Agency has operatives. However, that would be overstating the intention of the treatise. What is endeavored here is an attempt to give the American people a short view of the involvement of America, the National Security Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency in world affairs. It is not the intent of this treatise to be a criticism of my homeland, the United States of America. Indeed, in most countries on the globe, I would be arrested, jailed, tortured, and put to death for even attempting such a project. The very fact that I can write this book and still be alive is a testament to Americas unique form of capitalism.
US-Yemeni relations are enveloped in mysteries that have never been fully unraveled. Historically, these relations have fluctuated dramatically-improving momentarily before deteriorating once again. The literature on Yemen-US relations is riddled with inconsistencies and rarely delves deep into the dynamics at the core of this relationship, often overlooking the underlying complexities. This book addresses these key issues by exploring the myriad dynamics that drive bilateral relations between the two nations. It asserts that Yemen-US relations are governed by a complex array of factors, broadly categorized as external and internal. These dynamics are fluid, shifting with the ever-changing global environment and circumstances, making each stage of the relationship distinct from the next. Through a detailed analysis, this book offers a new interpretation of the systematic changes in Yemen-US relations and their future prospects. It highlights the wide range of dynamics-characterized by their plurality, overlap, and dual influence-that contribute to the instability and oscillation defining this relationship.Externally, factors such as regional geo-strategic considerations and the legacies of the Cold War, alongside the democratization and human rights agenda in the new international order, have predominantly shaped the relations. Conversely, the influence of internal factors was traditionally marginal due to weak mutual interests, but this changed dramatically after the September 11 attacks. The escalating threats to homeland security posed by terrorist groups in both nations brought a new dimension to the relationship.Internal dynamics, such as Yemen's conflict with al-Qaeda, its economic and developmental needs, and the country's overall instability, were significant in shaping the bilateral relations during the first decade of this century. However, their influence has since evolved, marking a new era in the relationship between Yemen and the US. This book stands out from others discussing the general state of Yemeni and American relations in two key ways. First, it avoids the conventional, chronological approach that often becomes tedious, opting instead for an analytical methodology that interprets changes in relations based on dominant factors. Second, it employs established scientific and methodological approaches from political science and international relations to ensure objectivity and enhance its scholarly integrity.
The book dives into the socio-historical roots of the current ‘disintegration’ of the Yemeni state, proposing that it is the result of a long process of devaluation of the Yemeni economy through imperialistic means, in the historical era of Advanced American imperialism—starting in the 1970s—that is facing the rise of China since the 1980s. As the United States feels threatened by the blossoming of Chinese influence on the Red Sea and the strategic maritime straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb, it is of utmost importance to understand the centrality of the war on Yemen. The disintegration of the Yemeni state since 2015, involving the disintegration of Yemeni sovereignty (in part through the fragmentation of the country), is a means of creating political chaos in a strategic country. The goal is to limit the growth of Chinese influence in the region of the Arab world, which threatens the financial superstructure of the global economic system based on the US dollar.
Yemen is a country that is critical to U.S. security and our political interests, yet most Americans know virtually nothing about it. This book unlocks its secrets and explains its complexities in simple yet compelling language. A nation with a rich civilization that has spanned 3,000 years, Yemen is the only democratic republic in the Arabian Peninsula. While events in modern-day Yemen are often in international news, most Americans know nothing about this country—nor are there easy-to-read, up-to-date resources for lay audiences. This book fills the gap in the literature. It describes Yemen's geography, economy, politics and government, history, culture, society and contemporary events, presenting a comprehensive but accessible overview of the country from many different angles—coverage that is long overdue. Editor Steven C. Caton has taken care to create a resource that is readily comprehensible to non-specialists such as high school and college students and general readers as well as highly informative for those with previous knowledge about Yemen. His thorough treatment provides synthetic overviews of key topics, discusses and dismisses certain misconceptions about Yemen, offers surprising perspectives on the relatively unknown country, and underscores Yemen's importance to the region and the wider world—both in ancient times and today.
This international relations study investigates the underlying causes of the Yemen crisis by analyzing the interactions of global, regional, and local actors. At all phases, GCC member states played a key role, from political negotiations amidst street protests in 2011 to formation of an international military coalition in 2015. Using a multi-actor model, the book shows that various actors, whether state or non-state, foreign or domestic, combined to create a disastrous armed conflict and humanitarian crisis. Yemen’s tragedy is often blamed on Saudi Arabia and its rivalry with Iran, which is usually defined in sectarian “Sunni-Shia” terms, yet the book presents a more complex picture of what happened due to involvement by many other foreign actors, such as the UAE, UN, UK, US, EU, Russia, China, Turkey, Oman, Qatar, and African states of the Red Sea and Horn of Africa.
