Destroying Yemen what chaos in arabia tells us about the world Isa Blumi university of california press SIMPSON IMPRINT IN HUMANITIES The humanities endowment by Sharon Hanly Simpson and Barclay Simpson honors MURIEL CARTER HANLEY whose intellect and sensitivity have enriched the many lives that she has touched. The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Simpson Imprint in Humanities. Destroying Yemen This page intentionally left blank 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. | Identifi ers: 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)—History— 20th century. | Yemen (Republic)—History—21st century. | Arab countries—Politics and government—21st century. | National security—Arab countries. Classifi cation: LCC JQ1842.A58 (ebook) | LCC JQ1842.A58 B59 2018 (print) | DDC 953.305/3—dc23 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 Për Jemenin më të dashur . ﻳﺎ ﻳﻤﻦ ... ﺃﻧﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺭﻫﺒﺔ ﻣﻨﻚ This page intentionally left blank contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Note on Dates, Abbreviations, and Transliteration xiii Introduction 1 1 • Th e Quest for Global Hegemony Starts There 28 2 • Th e Region Th at Pumps the Heart of the Cold War, 1941–1960 57 3 • Birthing Revolution: A Genealogy of the 1962 Coup 85 4 • Wrong from the Start: Modernization and Development and the Violence Th ey Spun 113 5 • Making Yemen Dance: Th e Regime and the Politics of Chaos 142 6 • Plundering Yemen and Its Post-Spring Hiatus 170 Coda: Yemen’s Relevance to the Larger World 201 Notes 213 Bibliography 265 Index 287 This page intentionally left blank illustrations maps 1. Yemen, 1990–2015 7 2. Evolution of Yemen’s borders, 1918–1934 47 3. Evolution of Yemen’s borders, 1967–1990 144 4. GCC and Hadi-imposed federal regions, 2014 198 figures 1. Protest, Tahrir Square, Sana‘a’, January 2013 5 2. Farmland, Hajjah, Northern Yemen, August 1993 8 3. Old City, Sana‘a’, 1993 18 4. Shelled Military Base on Airport Road, Sana‘a’, January 2013 185 5. Huthis, Sana‘a’, January 2013 194 ix This page intentionally left blank acknowledgments Th is was a diffi cult book. Its composition spanned a period of my life that taught me the limits of the human heart and that one’s spiritual radar is oft en 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. Th e 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. Th e contours of family changes in time, and mine has certainly changed. Th at said, all who have shared with me moments of respite from this emo- tional task of documenting the campaign of Destroying Yemen will likely fi nd 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 underpin- nings 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 fi rst, intellectual allies second, and colleagues last. Th ey read parts and pieces and helped pull down larger constructions to remain focused on the tasks at hand. For this never-ending service given fi rst as friend, I thank JS, CC, JP, and JT in Atlanta; WL, MH, JAK, TGG, JH, and JC elsewhere in North America; xi AN, RB, BV, DA, and JS in Geneva; MP, CR, MM, HA, and SA in other corners of Europe; and fi nally a considerable amount of appreciation goes to my colleagues at Stockholm University for not really paying too much atten- tion. As a home I hope still to build, with graduate students and engaged interactions with offi ce-mates old and new, may this fi rst 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 aft er all these years. Th at this book fi nds its fi nal place in the UCP catalogue, I hope encourages us to begin a long-term working relationship. I found the experi- ence straightforward and refreshingly uncomplicated, a most welcome inter- action in an otherwise diffi cult process. Further gratitude is extended to the support team at UCP, especially those involved in the typesetting, market- ing, 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. xii • acknowledgments note on dates, abbreviations, and transliteration All dates are Common Era unless otherwise noted. abbreviations Al-Qa‘ida 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 People’s 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) xiii 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 stan- dardized 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 fi gures, I only choose to represent the ‘ain and hamza. Th is means I forego depicting long vowels and the numerous consonants whose Latin ren- ditions require complicated graphic renderings. I trust scholars of the region will reserve criticism to the content of this book and not my leaning to con- venience in this matter. xiv • note Introduction “So for you this is a moral issue?” “Because you know, there’s a lot of jobs at stake. Certainly if a lot of these defense contrac- tors stop selling war planes, other sophisticated equipment to Saudi Arabia, there’s going to be a signifi cant loss of jobs, of revenue here in the United States. Th at’s secondary from your standpoint?” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewing Sen. Rand Paul, September 8, 2016 (Jilani and Emmons 2016) It was October 8, 2016, 6:30 p.m. in Sweden. I had just settled in to begin writing aft er dinner when a friend in Yemen e-mailed me the news. Earlier that day Saudi warplanes—armed, fueled, and maintained by British and American loaned military personnel—once again committed mass mur- der. Th e target was the capital city’s al-Qa’a al-Kubra funeral hall. Inside, hundreds upon hundreds of mourners were attending the funeral of Shaykh ‘Ali Jalal al-Rawishan, former interior minister of the Republic of Yemen. Under the guise of an “international coalition” fi rst operating under code name “Operation Decisive Storm” and soon aft er rebranded “Operation Restoring Hope,” Western-built warplanes unleashed four waves of airstrikes targeting the building in which much of North Yemen’s political and eco- nomic elite were paying their respects. Ten minutes later, when rescue work- ers and pedestrians rushed to assist the victims, another round of airstrikes, the notorious “double tap” the Americans perfected in Yemen years earlier, followed.