Ever since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011, pundits and so-called experts have been making declarations about “what’s wrong” with the region and “what’s next” in terms of…
-
-
Whenever we find ourselves strapped for cash, my closest friend in Yemen — an American citizen — and I joke that I should arrange for his kidnapping. We would surreptitiously…
-
There is a lot to be said about the ways humor can keep you going in times of hardship. Yemenis, who are all too familiar with adversity, have recently adopted…
-
The drone debate in America has become depressingly polarized. While critics point to the civilians killed and argue that most of the suspects could be captured, proponents counter that the…
-
It was like a scene from a great novel: Yemen’s most famous feminist screaming incandescently at the country’s most powerful tribal sheikh. Cameramen gathered round, eager to record history as…
-
In a country where American drone strikes have killed hundreds of civilians and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula roams free in many parts, it is ironic that on a…
-
When I first met Ali Salem al-Beidh in June last year, I was struck by the enthusiasm and energy of the 73-year-old. In his office in Beirut, the former President…
-
Yemen is not just a land of many problems — its sky has problems too. The receding annual rainfall from the clouds above has made way for another precipitant: missiles…
-
Every new day in Yemen people chew away at their political, economic and social aspirations for the future. They chew on disappointment from the failings of their society and government,…
-
Yemen has always been a country of halves,and 2012 was no different. Half dictatorship, half elections, half reform and some even claim merely a half a revolution, given that past…