After 33 years in office, Ali Abdullah Saleh finally stepped down as president of Yemen in February of 2012. From the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011 until Saleh’s leave of office, violent protests plagued the country. The election of new President Abdu Rabbu Hadi brought about a new hope that the country could look forward to a future with less intensified violence and additional stability. As with most countries involved with the Arab Spring, this sense of hope was briefly present in Yemen. Unfortunately, the situation in Yemen has taken a turn for the worse. The country is currently plagued by terrorist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as well as insurgency groups such as the Houthi and Salafi cells located in the northern part of Yemen. In addition to counter-terrorism and internal defense issues, the country is dealing with a shortage of oil production and water. The capital of Sann’a is slated to run out of water by 2025, making it one of the first capital cities in the world that will do so. Oil production is also set to dwindle, thus forcing Yemen to import up to 75% of its energy needs within the next year. Oil reserves in the country are also set to run out within the next 10-15 years.
Yemen has all the ingredients for a recipe to create a failed state. The country has severe internal security issues, widespread poverty, almost no modern infrastructure, and a population growth rate at about 8% a year. This is in addition to a widely corrupt government with very little power. With its current state, the Republic of Yemen will be unable to sustain a population with proper resources and internal strife will only continue. The very fluid and volatile state of the country has made it a safe-haven for Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists to flee to. The country has an underdeveloped economy and domestic terrorist organizations have made it a security threat to the United States and other countries. To counter terrorist threats, the United States has increased its clandestine drone program in Yemen to diffuse and destroy AQAP terrorist cells without leaving a large footprint. The United States has also cited Yemen as playing a key-role in the United States’ goal to combat terrorism. To try and regulate the illegal drug trade of Qhat (a narcotic similar to LSD grown almost exclusively in Yemen) as well as prevent violence committed by terrorist cells from bleeding over, Saudi Arabia even started the construction of a nine-meter high barrier along the Saudi-Yemeni border. The United Kingdom has even proposed a multi-lateral Special Forces deployment along side U.S. and Yemeni counter terrorism forces for advanced training to assist the Yemeni military’s elite Counter-Terrorism Unit in updating its counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency forces in unconventional warfare tactics and internal defense.
Yemen’s internal security issues and severe underdevelopment have made it a quagmire for international security. It is the unfortunate manifestation of many socio-economic problems and the combined conundrum of internal security threats. Within the near future, it is interesting to see how the international community will respond to security threats and instability in a post-Saleh Yemen. The Yemeni government’s power seems to be waning while internal problems are only increasing. If the government does not act quickly to diffuse internal tensions then the country will recede into even more uncontrolled chaos.
Yemen has all the ingredients for a recipe to create a failed state. The country has severe internal security issues, widespread poverty, almost no modern infrastructure, and a population growth rate at about 8% a year. This is in addition to a widely corrupt government with very little power. With its current state, the Republic of Yemen will be unable to sustain a population with proper resources and internal strife will only continue. The very fluid and volatile state of the country has made it a safe-haven for Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists to flee to. The country has an underdeveloped economy and domestic terrorist organizations have made it a security threat to the United States and other countries. To counter terrorist threats, the United States has increased its clandestine drone program in Yemen to diffuse and destroy AQAP terrorist cells without leaving a large footprint. The United States has also cited Yemen as playing a key-role in the United States’ goal to combat terrorism. To try and regulate the illegal drug trade of Qhat (a narcotic similar to LSD grown almost exclusively in Yemen) as well as prevent violence committed by terrorist cells from bleeding over, Saudi Arabia even started the construction of a nine-meter high barrier along the Saudi-Yemeni border. The United Kingdom has even proposed a multi-lateral Special Forces deployment along side U.S. and Yemeni counter terrorism forces for advanced training to assist the Yemeni military’s elite Counter-Terrorism Unit in updating its counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency forces in unconventional warfare tactics and internal defense.
Yemen’s internal security issues and severe underdevelopment have made it a quagmire for international security. It is the unfortunate manifestation of many socio-economic problems and the combined conundrum of internal security threats. Within the near future, it is interesting to see how the international community will respond to security threats and instability in a post-Saleh Yemen. The Yemeni government’s power seems to be waning while internal problems are only increasing. If the government does not act quickly to diffuse internal tensions then the country will recede into even more uncontrolled chaos.
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