Deadly dithering in Yemen

If your knowledge of Yemen was gained entirely from donor briefings and government statements, you might think it was a politically troubled, developmentally challenged country, like Egypt on a bad day. When the international community was spurred to ‘do something’ about Yemen, following the attempt to take down a United States-bound airliner by a would-be suicide bomber — who apparently trained there — the impulse was not to send over emergency relief, like Ethiopia in 1984, but to set up working groups to investigate Yemen’s complex developmental challenges.   But as donors deliberate the best way to boost the country’s long-term institutional capacity, increasing numbers of its citizens are living on the margins of survival. In the capital, Sanaa, when your car slows down even for a few seconds, thin fingers will inevitably begin tapping on the window begging for money. Poverty and privation is even worse in the countryside. On