Yemen in Crisis: Devastating Conflict, Fragile Hope

By Helen Lackner

’Written with compassion and insight, Lackner confirms her standing as the foremost authority on Yemeni politics at work today.’- Eugene Rogan

The democratic promise of Yemen’s 2011 uprising quickly unravelled, triggering a shocking political and social crisis with serious implications for the future of the country and region.

Fuelled by Arab and Western intervention, the infighting in Yemen descended into civil war, with thousands killed and millions facing starvation and deep social and political fragmentation. Suffering from a collapsed economy, the people of Yemen now face a desperate choice between the Huthi rebels on the one side and, on the other, a range of forces propped up by a Saudi-led coalition fed by Western arms.

In this incisive, invaluable analysis, Helen Lackner uncovers the roots of the conflicts threatening the very survival of the Yemeni state and its people. This updated edition features a new preface and a new chapter on the problems of humanitarian aid in the country.

‘Brimming with erudition and rich in analysis, Yemen in Crisis offers invaluable insight to seasoned observers and newcomers to the region alike.’ - Moustafa Bayoumi

‘An eminently valuable account of Yemen’s modern history and current travails by someone who has made it her life’s work to understand the country and its people.’ - Roger Owen, Harvard University

‘This timely book analyzes the deep roots of the crisis that gripped Yemen even before the destructive war against it created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Lackner is superbly equipped to trace the causes for the failure and collapse of the Yemeni state, under the inexorable pressures of neo-liberalism and regional and global rivalries.’ - Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University

‘A matchless geopolitical profile of the country, its history, its economic structures, and above all, its people.’ - Tariq Ali, New Left Review

This book is the best compact presentation of the background and dynamics of the social and political explosion that turned Yemen into the worst humanitarian crisis of today’s world.’ - Gilbert Achcar

• Language: English
• Publisher: Saqi Books
• Release date: Jan 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9780863561887

Helen Lackner

Helen Lackner is a social anthropologist who has spent the past five decades researching Yemen, working in the country for fifteen years. She is a research associate at the Middle East Institute at SOAS, University of London; a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations; and an associate at the Transnational Institute. Lackner is a regular contributor to Oxford Analytica’s briefs, Arab Digest, Orient XXI and openDemocracy. Her publications include Why Yemen Matters: A Society in Transition (editor). She lives in Oxford.