University of London Yar-Us Relations 1962-1990
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c> I , : } UNIVERSITY OF LONDON YAR-US RELATIONS 1962-1990: A CASE STUDY OF A SUPERPOWER-SMALL STATE RELATIONSHIP A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BY AHMED NOMAN KASSIM ALMADHAGI 1992 UMI Number: U615771 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615771 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I I4 £ S ^ S F ABSTRACT This study examines the nature of the relationship between a superpower and a small state, using as a case study that of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the USA. The period covered is the lifetime of the YAR from 26 September 1962 when the Republic was declared, to 22 May 1990, when the YAR was united with the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) to form the Republic of Yemen (ROY). After a brief examination of pre-revolutionary North Yemen-US contacts, which provide the backdrop to the relationship inherited by the Republic, Chapters 2-5 adopt a chronological approach to the different phases in the YAR-US interaction. The sixth chapter focuses on the economic dimension of the relationship. Beyond establishing a chronological account, this thesis analyzes several interrelated themes. It explores how the emergence of what was the first Republic in the Arabian Peninsula affected the balance of power in the Middle East and how this, in turn, affected US policy towards the region and towards Sana’a during the Cold War. In particular, it examines to what extent, if at all, the YAR benefitted from the bilateral relationship, and how this fitted in with the YAR government’s overall foreign policy. It investigates the extent to which the YAR was subjected to US Middle Eastern and global policies. It further examines how 2 international strategic rivalries between the superpowers and other interested nations affected the YAR and how Sana’a attempted to exploit and benefit from these rivalries and intersections. Other themes include the role played by the Yemeni people in affecting regional and international relations and the effect of regional religious differences on the YAR-US interaction. This study also studies how the YAR as a small state experienced a degree of freedom of manoeuvre in determining its own foreign policy. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 002 Table of Contents 004 Acknowledgements 005 Abbreviations 007 Note on Transliteration 008 Introduction 009 CHAPTER ONE North Yemen-US Contact Before 26 September 1962 026 CHAPTER TWO Initial YAR-US Contacts 042 CHAPTER THREE The First Phase of Diplomatic Relations 089 CHAPTER FOUR Restoration of Relations 140 CHAPTER FIVE Development of a US Interest in the YAR 179 CHAPTER SIX The Economic Dimension 233 Conclusion 273 Appendices 299 Bibliography 353 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank all those who assisted in the research and preparation of this thesis. I am most grateful to my supervisor, Professor Fred Halliday, who gave me much appreciated advice and support throughout all stages. I am indebted to the F.C.O for granting me an Award which made it possible. ’Abdul-’Aziz ’Abdul-Ghani, former YAR Prime Minister and currently Member of the ROY Presidium Council, kindly gave me encouragement. Muhsin al-’Aini, former YAR Prime Minister and currently ROY Ambassador to the US, facilitated my field-work. Under the Freedom of Information Act, the US Department of State provided me with documents necessary to accomplish this research. The American Institute for Yemeni studies (AIYS) kindly facilitated my research and made it possible for me to extend the period of my fieldwork in the US and in the ROY. I would like to record my thanks the following non-Yemenis for the interviews and information provided: David Ransom, Marjorie Ann Ransom, George Lane, William Rugh, Robert Stookey, Robert Burrowes, Manfred Wenner, Tom Meurer, Laurie Johnston, William Stoltzfus, John E. Peterson, Sheila Carapico, Brinkley Messick, Curt Walters, Talcott Seelye, Peter H. Deinken, Jack McCreary, Vinyamin Bobov, Mark Katz, Mu’djib al-Malazi and ’Adnan al-Tarsisi. 5 Of the Yemenis who have assisted me I wish to thank: ’Abdul-Karim al-Iryani, Muhammad ’Abdul-’Aziz Sallam, Muhammad Sa’id al-’Attar, ’Abd Allah al-Ashtal, Sayyid Mustafa Salem, ’Ali Muhammad ’Abduh, ’Abdul-’Aziz al-Sakkaf, Muhammad Kaid Saif, ’Abdul- Salam Sabrah, ’Abdul-Karim Sallam Ahmad, Ahmad Muhammad al-Shami and Muhammad Ahmad Zabarah. 6 ABBREVIATIONS ANA Aden News Agency FBIS United States Foreign Broadcast Information Service FLOSY Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen FOO Free Officers Organisation FYM Free Yemeni Movement FYP Free Yemeni Party HKJ Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan GCC Gulf Cooperation Council GPC General Peoples Congress of the Yemen Arab Republic ICA US International Cooperation Administration IMF International Monetary Fund JANA Libyan News Agency KOY Kingdom of Yemen (1918-1948) KSA Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ME BBC, Summary of Word Broadcasts, Part IV, the Middle East MKOY Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1948-1962) NDF National Democratic Front in the Yemen Arab Republic NLF National Liberation Front (of South Yemen) PDRY People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen PFLO People’s Front for the Liberation of Oman PFLOAG People’s Front of the Liberation of Oman and the Occupied Arab Gulf (1968-71); People’s Front for the Liberation o f Oman and the Arab Gulf (1971-74) PRSY People’s Republic of South Yemen RDP Revolutionary Democratic Party ROY Republic of Yemen SABA’ YAR News Agency SAF South Arabia Federation SAG South Arabia Government UAR United Arab Republic (Egypt 1959-1971) UPONF Unified Political Organisation of the National Front USAID United States Agency for International Development USIA United States Information Agency USIS United States Information Service YAR Yemen Arab Republic YARCPO YAR Central Planning Organisation YEPCO Yemen Exploration and Production Company YHOC Yemen Hunt Oil Company YOMINCO Yemen Oil and Minerals Corporation YSP Yemeni Socialist Party 7 NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION Except where names of places or individuals are conventionally rendered into English in other forms, the process of transliteration from Arabic used throughout the thesis is based on that of THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAM. 8 INTRODUCTION This study covers the relationship between the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the USA during the period between the Yemeni revolution on 26 September 1962 and the unification of the two Yemens on 22 May 1990 - when the YAR merged with the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) to form the Republic of Yemen (ROY). Despite unification, there is a great measure of continuity between earlier YAR-US relations and ROY-US relations today. While relations between what was South Yemen and the US were limited to the period between 1967 and 1969,1 Sana’a’s more continuous relations with Washington were inherited by the ROY since Sana’a became the capital of the former YAR and is today the capital in both law and reality of the new Yemen. The Yemen possesses distinguishing if not unique features and characteristics: it is a highly populated country, was long supplied with Soviet arms, has a turbulent modem history, controls the southern mouth of the Red Sea and lies adjacent to sixty percent of the world’s oil reserves in what is supposedly an unchallenged sphere of Western influence. Its relations with the US therefore merit thorough and detailed study. This thesis contributes additional knowledge to several distinct areas of existing research in international relations. Apart from contributing to research on the foreign relations of Third World states and on the contemporary history of the Arabian Peninsula, it also contributes to the literature on North-South relations. Although largely dependent upon US sources 9 because of their availability, this detailed analysis of YAR-US interaction comes from a Yemeni perspective and is intended to make a significant addition to the available literature, provide a better understanding of this part of the Middle East, and add to existing research on some of the issues involved. The Sources and Their Limitations Before the background to the major themes of this thesis are outlined in detail, it is first necessary to state some of the problems that were encountered during the research due to the limitations of the source material. Research on the Yemen and on the Arabian peninsula that followed the 26 September revolution in the northern part of Yemen and the ensuing Yemen crisis has involved several international scholars and institutions, such as the American Institute for Yemeni Studies in the US (AIYS). These scholars’ published and unpublished works2, the declassified documents of the US government, the US Freedom of Information Act facilities, and field work undertaken by this author in both the Yemen and the US, have provided the basis of this thesis. This research encountered a number of difficulties, the main one being that the YAR’s relations with the US are, in many respects, not comparable to those with any other Middle Eastern state. Although North Yemen, which was never colonized by a Western power, achieved independence from Turkey in 1918, it was kept largely segregated from the outside 10 world by its Zeidi rulers whose strict religious ideology sought to keep the country closed to foreigners or outside influence.