Yemen War: An Overview of the Armed Conflict and Role of Belligerents

In: Journal of politics and law: JPL, Volume 13, Issue 1, p. 53

Abstract

Since 2004, Yemen is facing a rebellious movement by a Shiite militant group called the Houthis1. The Houthis established a parallel rule in northern part of the country and occupied the capital Sana'a. Due to involvement of regional powers including Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabi the nature of conflict became both sectarian and separatist. Following the Arab uprising in 2011, the roots of recent conflict lies in the failure of political transition between the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his opposition. The geopolitical situation and support of Iran for the Houthis made the station in Yemen more complex. Therefore, the Gulf countries particularly Saudi Arabia was concerned because of the strategic and political situation of its fragile neighbor. This paper provides an insight to the conflict in various aspects including the role of conflicting parties, role of proxies, role of world powers and regional actors to analyze the conflict in a detailed manner. At the end study also discusses the most recent political and strategic developments having implication on the region.