Yemen is often forgotten when talking about the Middle East, when it is mentioned it is usually through the eyes of national security or media that is focused purely on counter terrorism. But there is much more to this California-sized Gulf country.
For years Yemen was considered by many as one of the more peaceful Gulf States, but when changing demographics altered the status-quo, protests began to break out. The Arab Spring of 2011 was prevalent in Yemen where the uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions, and corruption. The Yemeni government, unfortunately, was unable to address the hard feelings of the citizens and the protests turned deadly. Yemen, it seemed, was on the brink of civil war.
In an effort to aid Yemen’s government transition, a six month long National Dialogue Conference began on March 18th. The National Dialogue is intended to bring together Yemen’s diverse political, social, geographic, and demographic groups to address the most critical issues plaguing the beleaguered country.
In late July, the American Security Project (ASP) hosted “Yemen’s Political Transition and National Dialogue: Progress and Challenges,” a panel discussion on the current issues facing Yemen and the efforts thus far, both internationally and internally, to address them. At the event Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, appeared to be enthusiastic about Yemen’s future and stated, “Transitions are never clean, but overall I believe we are on the right track.”
Albasha explained that the political transition process thus far has accomplished much, especially given that just two years ago he “would have said [Yemenis] were definitely heading for a civil war.” Albasha explained that as part of the dialogue “former enemies are now sitting together, in the same room discussing these issues.”
Ambassador Barbara Bodine, former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, agreed that the national dialogue is important, but warned that we need to focus not only on “the importance of the national dialog, but the sufficiency of the national dialog.”
“There is a lesson from Egypt and even a lesson from Iraq that we need to bear in mind when we are looking at Yemen,” Bodine warned. “In both these countries the focus was on a very short-term political solution to the problem; get out there, get elections done, get a parliament in, get a president in, establishing the architecture of a government, without ever sitting down and going through what is the social contract, and where is this country trying to go.”
“We need to see the national dialog as the first step,” Bodine concluded, “but we need to be looking beyond the national dialog.”
Danya Greenfield, Deputy Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, agreed with Bodine’s warning and explained, “Assessing the state of Yemen’s transition really depends upon the barometer of measurement, if the bar is set at avoiding civil war, then absolutely this has been a success.” Greenfield further explained that the dialogue is yet to really address the aims of the citizens who sought “an end to corruption and nepotism, an opening of the political space, the inclusion of disenfranchised populations” and better economic conditions across the board.
Fully assessing the future impact of Yemen’s national dialogue is not yet feasible, but if the dialogue is able to address only a small percent of the social issues plaguing the country then it must be deemed a success. The accomplishments made by Yemen’s national dialogue will also have an effect on other countries in the region, as one country changes others soon follow. Let us hope that the changes in Yemen prove to be positive.
Photo: Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs (cc).
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Yemen's National Dialogue: A First Step
September 2, 2013
Yemen is often forgotten when talking about the Middle East, when it is mentioned it is usually through the eyes of national security or media that is focused purely on counter terrorism. But there is much more to this California-sized Gulf country.
For years Yemen was considered by many as one of the more peaceful Gulf States, but when changing demographics altered the status-quo, protests began to break out. The Arab Spring of 2011 was prevalent in Yemen where the uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions, and corruption. The Yemeni government, unfortunately, was unable to address the hard feelings of the citizens and the protests turned deadly. Yemen, it seemed, was on the brink of civil war.
In an effort to aid Yemen’s government transition, a six month long National Dialogue Conference began on March 18th. The National Dialogue is intended to bring together Yemen’s diverse political, social, geographic, and demographic groups to address the most critical issues plaguing the beleaguered country.
In late July, the American Security Project (ASP) hosted “Yemen’s Political Transition and National Dialogue: Progress and Challenges,” a panel discussion on the current issues facing Yemen and the efforts thus far, both internationally and internally, to address them. At the event Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, appeared to be enthusiastic about Yemen’s future and stated, “Transitions are never clean, but overall I believe we are on the right track.”
Albasha explained that the political transition process thus far has accomplished much, especially given that just two years ago he “would have said [Yemenis] were definitely heading for a civil war.” Albasha explained that as part of the dialogue “former enemies are now sitting together, in the same room discussing these issues.”
Ambassador Barbara Bodine, former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, agreed that the national dialogue is important, but warned that we need to focus not only on “the importance of the national dialog, but the sufficiency of the national dialog.”
“There is a lesson from Egypt and even a lesson from Iraq that we need to bear in mind when we are looking at Yemen,” Bodine warned. “In both these countries the focus was on a very short-term political solution to the problem; get out there, get elections done, get a parliament in, get a president in, establishing the architecture of a government, without ever sitting down and going through what is the social contract, and where is this country trying to go.”
“We need to see the national dialog as the first step,” Bodine concluded, “but we need to be looking beyond the national dialog.”
Danya Greenfield, Deputy Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, agreed with Bodine’s warning and explained, “Assessing the state of Yemen’s transition really depends upon the barometer of measurement, if the bar is set at avoiding civil war, then absolutely this has been a success.” Greenfield further explained that the dialogue is yet to really address the aims of the citizens who sought “an end to corruption and nepotism, an opening of the political space, the inclusion of disenfranchised populations” and better economic conditions across the board.
Fully assessing the future impact of Yemen’s national dialogue is not yet feasible, but if the dialogue is able to address only a small percent of the social issues plaguing the country then it must be deemed a success. The accomplishments made by Yemen’s national dialogue will also have an effect on other countries in the region, as one country changes others soon follow. Let us hope that the changes in Yemen prove to be positive.
Photo: Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs (cc).
