From Sidi Bouzid to Damascus: The Tragedy of the “Spring”

Recent clashes in Aden lay bare the untenable sociopolitical status quo in southern Yemen. Weeks of attacks and conspiracies reveal a strained Saudi-Emirati alliance and unaddressed southern Yemeni grievances. A tenuous partnership between forces of the Saudi-backed, internationally-recognized government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) — a UAE-backed proto-state vying for an independent South Yemen — has collapsed. These actors’ shared mandate to defeat...