What is happening in Yemen?

While the world, and Europe in particular, is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, the first conflict in decades to ravage the continent, there are still many active crises and conflicts around the world today, especially in the Middle East. With all our concerns over the last few months, especially since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February, we have focused on informing ourselves about this conflict and understanding what is happening there and the repercussions and impacts that the war may have. During these months we seem to have forgotten about the world around us and what is happening, and it seems that the crises afflicting multiple countries and regions of this planet have fallen into utter oblivion.

After these months, we wake up in the morning and remember countries living in crisis and war. The media and professionals must follow these events as we deal with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These are conflicts taking place in the Middle East, very close to Europe and much closer to Spain, which is historically more exposed than other European countries to what is happening in this region and in the Arab world. We have to insist in our reporting on what has happened during this time in wars such as those in Yemen and Syria. The conflict is still open and a lot has happened in recent times. Especially in Yemen. 

Last April, all Yemeni forces gathered in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. In addition to the traditional forces, the new modernist-tinged forces, whose presence seemed to have become more influential both inside and outside the country, were present. After about a week of negotiations, it was agreed to create a presidential council to save the country and lead the situation in a complex and complicated rescue mission,

This time, the traditional forces and parties did not manage to control the situation completely as they did before, despite their desperate attempts to gain control. Over the past few years, a new reality had emerged and took hold, a reality that seemed to fit better and to be able to shape the future of the country. 

The new council is composed of eight leaders. They represent the north and the south of the country, and it seems that two figures belonging to the Council stand out above all others and receive greater attention. These two figures represent what can be called emerging forces, namely the Southern Transitional Council led by Aidarous al-Zubaidi and the National Resistance and its political bureau, and its representative, Brigadier General Tariq Saleh.

There is no doubt that the war that broke out in the country eight years ago was the natural result of the failure of the country's traditional political forces to contain and confront the Iranian-backed Houthi group's project, leaving the door open for them to seize power and take over the country. This failure of the traditional political forces explains to a large extent the lack of success of the political dialogue and the fact that the conflict in Yemen is no longer at the top of the headlines. But it is worth noting that something has happened to break the stalemate of recent months.

In my opinion, this is the biggest political change that has occurred in that Arab country in decades, and it seems clear that the countries involved and influential in the Yemeni conflict are relying heavily on it to end the war and restore stability not only to Yemen, but also to one of the vitally important regions. There is no doubt that the traditional forces in Yemen, which have had control and monopoly over politics in Yemen for the past four to five decades, have not been able to resolve their wars and conflicts and were the real cause why the problems multiplied. The failure of these forces imposed the need for a change and a rupture, which is what is indeed happening.

Today, the Southern Transitional Council and the Political Bureau of the National Resistance seem to be the most prominent, and it seems clear that the countries of the region and the influential countries in the Yemeni conflict are counting on them in Yemen's future, and what makes these new forces all the more necessary is the fact that the traditional forces are not capable of acting outside their ideological schemes and have no intention of putting aside the sectarian clashes that have left so much devastation in Yemen and other countries in the region.

Traditional political forces have plunged Yemen into political and economic corruption for decades, allowing a tiny Iranian-linked Ansar Allah Al-Houthi group to easily control the country in 2014. It plunged Yemen into a devastating sectarian war that bankrupted the country. On the other hand, another extremist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, plunged the country into conflicts and wars that seemed to have no end in sight, but Yemenis cleverly managed to break out of this circle, albeit partially, and thereby abandon the disillusionment by giving rise to new forces and introducing them to the world, which clearly has no choice but to reach out to these forces to create a new order and open the horizon for a stable future in this country, as happened last April.

This transformation occurred while Europe was preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, but it was the product of political and popular interactions over the years, and if Europe had established good relations in the past with traditional forces over decades, it should now take the initiative to reach out to new and emerging forces that clearly have more domestic support than those forces and a stronger regional presence. Spain may be much better equipped to play such a role, and Madrid has a historic opportunity to play a leading role in all that is happening in the Middle East and North Africa, especially as it is the most affected geographically and historically by what is happening in that region.

The UN and the EU support political negotiations and see them as the only solution to the protracted conflict in Yemen, the country with the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Yemen has been in truce for more than four consecutive months, the first of its kind since the outbreak of the conflict in 2015, at a time when the European Union and the international community in general are counting on this truce to turn the page on the Yemen war, despite its fragility and the refusal of the Houthi rebels to fulfil their obligations. Spain can lead the EU's efforts in Yemen, especially given the failure of other European countries to do so and the limited success they have had in influencing and bringing about change.