UCLA Why Has the War in Yemen Persisted Discussion Question

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revp2401

Humanities

University Of California Los Angeles

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750-1200 words MLA Format. You can use as many outside sources as you want as long as you cite it. This is an argumentative essay not a research paper so support your argument with sources.

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Why has the war in Yemen persisted, when there seems to be no prospect of any side
emerging victorious?
Introduction
Yemen war, the cause behind one of the biggest humanitarian crisis, persisted for
more than six years and is not showing any end in sight in the near future due to the religious
conflict in the region, the strategic importance of the Gulf of Aden, and involvement of
several stakeholders, i.e., terrorist groups and smaller factions in the war seeking their
interests. Yemen has become the violent playground for power and international interests of
various countries lading it to the poorest country of the Arab region.
The First War
From January 2011 to February 2012, mass protests in Sanaa took place resulting in
the then president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and then vice president Abdrabbuh Mansur
Hadi. But then later Yemenis topples the government and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government
was demolished and Abdrabbuh Mansour Ali became the president of Yemen. The UN
Sponsored national dialogue was established to address the future of the country and a new
federal system was agreed on but the tension in the country again flared up as the proposal
was made to divide the country into six federal regions. The Houthis and the Southern

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Separatist movement objected to the proposal. However, the transition of power failed, and
he was unable to keep control of the country. Hadi went into hiding in Saudi Arabia and
Houthi took the control of Aden Airport. This is when the Saudi-led coalition fired an
airstrike campaign against the area which was taken over by the Houthis. This involvement of
Iran in Yemen was a threat to Saudi Arabia. As sharing the border with Yemen meant the
stronger Iranian influence was dangerous for the country due to which Saudi set and air and
sea blockade (Sharp & Brudnick: Hokayen & Roberts). The Sunni-Shia dichotomy at the
local and regional level played its part in the initial on-set of the war in the country, which
turned into the biggest humanitarian crisis.
Proxy War
These crises have been brewing there since the start of the civil war in 2015. On one
side, Iran-backed Houthi Rebels are attracting the Shia minority in Yemen. While on the
other side is the Saudi backed government. This government is internationally recognized as
being led by the Sunni president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The involvement of both the
countries in this conflict giving rise to proxy war is for control in the region. This conflict is
therefore is usually terns as “ethno-sectarian civil war” (Heydemann). The war started when
the Houthis overthrew Yemen's Sunni government headquarters. The Houthi’s excused to
attack is that they represent the mistreated and suppressed minority of the Shia minority
population in Yemen. The idea of the Iran-backed Houthi’s frightened the Saudi’s. In
response to this, Saudia Arabia started a coalition between them, and the United Arab
Emirates, Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Senegal. Iran has also
recruited Army of Shia fighters from Tehran to Mediterranean, providing arms and
weaponries to the fighters in Yemen. Hezbullah was Iran’s first proxy war in Yemen. The
Shia fighters in this war based in Lebanon but trained from Iranians. (Khatib).

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Present Control Over Yemen
Amidst this chaos, extremist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Islamic States of Iraq
and Levant (ISIL) were able to take the advantage of this political turmoil and throughout the
war, there have been multiple cases of violations of internal law by all parties involved.

Figure 1: The map shows Yemen occupying parts as of October 2020 (Yemen Control Map & R...


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