Current events in Yemen present a challenge for the country’s social cohesion and nationhood. The task ahead is for the country’s politicians to arrive at political solutions that will save the country additional bloodletting and a possible civil war. Aware of how the changes which Yemen is currently facing might impact not only the future of Yemen, but also of the wider Arab region, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies will hold a one-day academic workshop devoted to studying the ramifications of the Houthi takeover of the country and the ensuing Operation Decisive Storm. “Yemen After the Storm” will be held on Saturday, April 25 at the Sheraton Doha and will allow a select group of scholars to discuss the conflict currently under way in Yemen, the context which led to it and its likely outcomes. Participants are invited to examine not only Yemen’s domestic dynamics, the collapse of the Yemeni state and the rise of armed militias, but also the regional and wider global contexts which gave rise to Iran’s interference in the Arabian Peninsula and the GCC military reaction.

The capture of the capital Sanaa by the Houthi militia was a turning point in Yemen’s long-running and bitter conflict, which has seen an upsurge in violence since the outbreak of the country’s popular revolution in February, 2011. Allied with the deposed president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthis  deposed Interim President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi together with his cabinet following their sacking of the presidential palace in January, 2015. Alongside its regional backer, Iran, the group has attempted to dominate Yemen and turn it into yet another staging ground from which it can threaten the stability of the Arabian Peninsula. The end result of this was Operation Decisive Storm — a military campaign led by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition aims to limit Iranian interference in the Arab world and re-align the balance of powers in Yemen, as well as to compel the Houthi militia to accept a political resolution to the Yemeni crisis.

Participants at the meeting will include: Azmi Bishara, Fahad Al Harthi; Anwar Al Rawas; Khalid Al Dakhil;  Khalid Al Jaber; Andreas Krieg; Marwan Kabalan; Jaber Al Harmi; Rajeh Badi; Abdulbaqi Shamsan; Abdullah Bin Hadhal; Maysaa Shugaa Addin; Mohammed Al Misfer; Hasan Johar; Nabil Al Bukairi; Abdulnasser Al-Muwadea; Fouad Al Salahi; Abdulsalam Mohammed and Ahmad Al Shalfi.  

A background paper for the meeting can be found here.