THE RETURN OF DIPLOMACY? POLICY OPTIONS FOR YEMEN AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The Yemen Policy Center (YPC) is pleased to invite you to a virtual discussion,

“THE RETURN OF DIPLOMACY? POLICY OPTIONS FOR YEMEN AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD”
on March 3^rd, 2021, from 17:00-18:30 CET 

(11:00-12:30 EST; 16:00-17:30 GMT)

Promising that America would lead with diplomacy once again, President Joseph Biden delivered his first foreign policy speech on February 4^th, 2021 from the White House. In his remarks, which specifically addressed the conflict in Yemen, the President called for a nationwide ceasefire, stated that the United States would no longer support Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in the country, and withdrew the FTO designation of the Houthis (an unwelcome inheritance from the Trump administration). A few days later, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffith, made his first trip to Teheran to discuss the Yemen conflict.

The Houthis have made significant gains against Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government (IRG) since the conflict began, consolidating their grip on power in the country, establishing repressive regimes and cracking down on opposition and civil rights wherever they seize territory. Emboldened by Saudi Arabia’s evident exhaustion and their own success on the ground, the group recently re-launched its offensive on Marib— the IRG held, oil-rich province east of Sana’a, which is also home to approximately one million internally displaced civilians. Should Marib fall to the Houthis, it would likely not only worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen but also deal a perhaps fatal blow to the already beleaguered Track-1 peace process, as well as to the increasingly weakened IRG, which is also facing competition across its own territory from the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

These and other recent developments in Yemen raise a number of critical, time-sensitive questions for policymakers, analysts, and observers of the war. Given the many conflicting interests and power constellations in Yemen, what are realistic diplomatic options regarding the current conflict, as it stands? How can the international community gain leverage on the Houthis to avert a catastrophe in Marib? What influence does Iran have on the group? And finally, what could a solution that is agreeable to the various parties to the conflict look like?

This conversation will be moderated by YPC’s research fellow Hadil Al-Mowafak, and will draw on analysis from:

Peter Salisbury, an International Senior Analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group, a research-based conflict prevention and resolution NGO. Peter was previously a Senior Consulting Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House. He has more than 13 years of extensive experience as a print, online and broadcast journalist, political economy researcher and analyst.

Adnan Tabatabai, an Iran analyst who is consulted by European policymakers and businesses on Iran related affairs. Through his work at CARPO, Tabatabai has designed and facilitated track 2 and civil-society dialogue formats between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2015. He is furthermore involved in a variety of projects at CARPO on regional security in the Persian Gulf region. Tabatabai is author of the book “Morgen in Iran” (Oct. 2016, Edition Körber-Stiftung).

Annelle Sheline PhD, is a research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a DC think tank, and a non-resident fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Sheline completed her doctorate in political science at George Washington University, focusing on the strategic use of religious authority in the Middle East.

Ibrahim Jalal, a Non-Resident Scholar in the Gulf Affairs and Yemen Program at the Middle East Institute (MEI), a risk, security, conflict, stabilization and defence consultant and a co-founder of the Security Distillery Think Tank. His research mainly examines third-party peace processes in Yemen, Gulf security, the politics of military coalitions and armed non-state actors.

Register for the event here