Blumi - Destroying Yemen: what chaos in Arabia tells us about the world

Destroying Yemen

The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Simpson Imprint in Humanities.

Destroying Yemen

WHAT CHAOS IN ARABIA TELLS US
ABOUT THE WORLD

Isa Blumi

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press

Oakland, California

2018 by Isa Blumi

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Blumi, Isa, 1969- author.

Title: Destroying Yemen : what chaos in Arabia tells us about the world / Isa Blumi.

Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2017026563 (print) | LCCN 2017028124 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520968783 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520296138 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520296145 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH : Yemen (Republic)Politics and government. | Yemen (Republic)Social conditions. | Yemen (Republic)History20th century. | Yemen (Republic)History21st century. | Arab countriesPolitics and government21st century. | National securityArab countries.

Classification: LCC JQ 1842.A58 (ebook) | LCC JQ 1842. A 58 B 59 2018 (print) | DDC 953.305/3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017026563

Manufactured in the United States of America

26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Pr Jemenin m t dashur...

Contents

Illustrations

MAPS

FIGURES

Acknowledgments

This was a difficult book. Its composition spanned a period of my life that taught me the limits of the human heart and that ones spiritual radar is often the only way to navigate troubled waters. I cannot even imagine what it is like to be living in Yemen at the moment, and feel a sincere sense of guilt that I cannot do more. What I have done is pull together emotional and material resources and write a book that is but a minuscule approximation of the complex world Yemenis face. The fact that a genocidal war is still being waged on Yemenis expected to submit to others whims means this tradition of writing a brief few words of thanks feels odd. I cannot in good conscience thank any of my Yemeni, Kosovare, Emirati, Saudi, and Somali interlocutors by name as retribution is likely a tool to be used for years in beautiful Yemen. It is a war still incomplete, and I need not share thanks to those who will know, upon, inshaAllah, reading this book, that I have them always in my heart.

The contours of family changes in time, and mine has certainly changed. That said, all who have shared with me moments of respite from this emotional task of documenting the campaign of Destroying Yemen will likely find relief in my completing this painful project. I felt the love and trust that comes with being family, and that shall outlive all the immediate underpinnings of change that our respective lives take. I love those who have shared so much to me and let me go, when necessary, to Yemen and beyond.

I extend a thanks to the small list of generous friends first, intellectual allies second, and colleagues last. They read parts and pieces and helped pull down larger constructions to remain focused on the tasks at hand. For this never-ending service given first as friend, I thank JS, CC, JP, and JT in Atlanta; WL, MH, JAK, TGG, JH, and JC elsewhere in North America; AN, RB, BV, DA, and JS in Geneva; MP, CR, MM, HA, and SA in other corners of Europe; and finally a considerable amount of appreciation goes to my colleagues at Stockholm University for not really paying too much attention. As a home I hope still to build, with graduate students and engaged interactions with office-mates old and new, may this first completed project not be the last.

I am indeed relieved I have the chance to thank Niels Hooper and his very diligent and professional assistant Bradley Depew at University of California Press. I am especially grateful for Niels embracing my work after all these years. That this book finds its final place in the UCP catalogue, I hope encourages us to begin a long-term working relationship. I found the experience straightforward and refreshingly uncomplicated, a most welcome interaction in an otherwise difficult process. Further gratitude is extended to the support team at UCP, especially those involved in the typesetting, marketing, and copy-editing.

I am also grateful for the last-minute help from the very professional Ben Pease of Pease Press Maps in San Francisco. With little time to work he put together useful maps that certainly make the book easier to read.

Note on Dates, Abbreviations, and Transliteration

All dates are Common Era unless otherwise noted.

ABBREVIATIONS

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)

Brazil, Russia, India, (Iran), China, South Africa (BRI(I)CS)

Dubai Ports World (DPW)

European Union (EU)

Free Yemeni Movement (FYM)

Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY)

General Peoples Congress (GPC)

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Joint Meeting Parties (JMP)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Local Development Associations (LDA)

Mainstream Media (MSM)

Muslim Brotherhood (MB)

National Dialogue Conference (NDC)

National Liberation Front (NLF)

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

Non-Government Organizations (NGO)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Trade Union Congress (TUC)

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

United Nations (UN)

United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR)

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

United States of America (USA)

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Yemen Arab Republic (YAR)

Yemen Bank for Reconstruction and Development (YBRD)

TRANSLITERATIONS

Because this study utilizes several foreign language sources, including Arabic, transliteration is necessary. I wish to represent as best as possible the standardized transliteration of Arabic words and names, but rendering absolute transliterations of Arabic words in Latin script can be tedious and distracting for most readers. As there are special nouns that have renditions in Latin script now commonplace in the media, especially the case with names of public figures, I only choose to represent the ain and hamza. This means I forego depicting long vowels and the numerous consonants whose Latin renditions require complicated graphic renderings. I trust scholars of the region will reserve criticism to the content of this book and not my leaning to convenience in this matter.

Introduction

So for you this is a moral issue? Because you know, theres a lot of jobs at stake. Certainly if a lot of these defense contractors stop selling war planes, other sophisticated equipment to Saudi Arabia, theres going to be a significant loss of jobs, of revenue here in the United States. Thats secondary from your standpoint?