| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Yemen: Failure or DemocracyJane NovakWorldpress.org |
| 2005-12-21 |
| Ahmed al-Rabei recently described the worst case for Yemen as, "an Afghan scenario and a civil war that will spread to the borders of G.C.C. countries." Al-Rabei, a columnist for Alsharq Alwasat, wrote with great affection for the Yemeni people of his concern for the future of Yemen. Al-Rabei is not alone in his assessment of an uncertain future for Yemen. A variety of international organizations and many reports have highlighted increasingly dysfunctional Yemeni institutions and governance. Transparency International has noted widespread and growing corruption, ranking Yemen near the bottom of its corruption scale. The qualification assessment for the U.S. funded Millennium Challenge Account determined that the Yemeni regime has moved backwards from previous assessments. In the 2005 round, Yemen failed all six "ruling justly" indicators. It failed three of the four indicators of "investing in people." As a result, Yemen did not qualify for substantial U.S. developmental funding. The World Bank recently cut Yemen's funding by 34 percent due to corruption. Christiaan Poortman, vice president at the World Bank, noted during a press conference that the regime's performance indicators fell markedly. Yemen ranks eighth on the Fund for Peace's "Failed State Index." The goal of the Fund for Peace (F.F.P.) is the prevention of war, and the Failed State Index analyzes states in terms of the potential for state failure, whether from implosion, explosion or erosion, with the hope of averting violent crises. Yemen exhibits many symptoms of a failing state. In the F.F.P. analysis, Yemen scored lower (more stable) in terms of social indicators and was ranked higher on economic and political indicators. An analysis of the methodology used by the Fund for Peace reveals how the concentration of power in Yemen increasingly distorts the state. ... The elite run criminal enterprises in Yemen include wide scale weapons trafficking, diesel smuggling, drug smuggling and human trafficking. ... A second political indicator of possible state collapse is "progressive deterioration of public services," in essential areas like security, health, sanitation, transportation and education services. In a typical failing state, the F.F.P. notes, state mechanisms "narrow" to function only in areas that serve the ruling elites (security forces, presidential staff, central bank, diplomatic service, customs and collection agencies.) ... As al-Rabei wrote of Yemen, "the reality remains that the worst possible outcome will be disastrous for everyone." To pull Yemen back from the brink of disaster, "worry is not enough." The situation is so grave that he believes immediate direct action is warranted. "Persian Gulf countries should adopt a plan similar to the Marshall Plan with regards to Yemen," al-Rabei suggests. Salt to taste as it is a leftist publication but background is background. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #5 That's for the big picture look at ME politics. Use sparingly. May cause headaches. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2005-12-21 12:40 |
| #4 wot h0ppens with a 32oz waffel head? |
| Posted by: dizzy the Spemble 2005-12-21 12:06 |
| #3 If I tap myself twice in the middle of the forehead with a 16 oz. claw hammer it all makes sense. |
| Posted by: Fred 2005-12-21 10:03 |
| #2 If anyone can make sense out of Yemeni politics, they are a better man/woman than me. Although Fred seems to have a grasp. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-12-21 06:32 |
| #1 Wait a sec, Worldpress may be leftest, but if this is the same Jane Novak of Armies of Liberation, then it is OK. Yemen is her 'special project,' and she's got the government dupes there by the throat. Heck, they denounced her in a government paper as a 'Docile Pupil of a Monkey Monk!' An endorsement if I have ever heard one! |
| Posted by: Glains Theash7392 2005-12-21 05:08 |