Yemen’s current president — formerly the quiet, powerless vice president — took office more than eight months ago, yet until recently those walking near his home would still say they were “near the vice president’s house.” Few took him or his new authority seriously. That, however, has now changed. Not only has Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi earned respect as a leader, he has aroused something many Yemenis had almost become allergic to, given how often it has let them down: hope. Hadi came to power in February via a political deal brokered and backed by Gulf Cooperation Council states and the international community, which helped end more than a year of popular uprisings against the three-decade rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Few, however, thought Hadi could curb the heavy influence of the patronage networks and corrupt feudal systems that were the legacy of the former president. Early August, however, President
