October-November Edition of The Middle East in London Hits Newsstands
4 October 2011
The October-November edition of The Middle East in London, the bimonthly magazine of the London Middle East Institute, is now out.
The magazine is a leading resource on Middle Eastern communities in London. It includes event, film and book reviews, as well as original articles on cultural, political, economic and other issues that affect these communities.
As the Arab Spring reaches autumn, and most eyes are trained in hope and horror on Libya and Syria, our focus shifts to two of the lesser-known countries of the Middle East - Oman and Yemen - which are experiencing their own unique disturbances. Each of these southern Arabian countries has been ruled by the same man for an extraordinarily long period: Sultan Qabus of Oman for 41 years; President Ali Abdullah Salih of Yemen for 33 years. Both rulers have maintained power with the help of (now diminishing) oil resources and foreign aid – administrative, financial and military. And both now face unprecedented opposition to their authoritarian regimes or manner of ruling - especially from disenfranchised and unemployed shabab (youth) who have little to lose, and dream of better, freer lives.
These internal political pressures are recent and as yet `relatively mild’ in Oman, according to Peterson, where its paternalistic ruler has presided over major economic and infrastructural development. But they are older and graver in Yemen, which has a much larger and poorer population, is woefully underdeveloped, and (as Lichtenthaeler describes) faces imminent, catastrophic water shortages.
Two distinct protest movements in the north and south of Yemen have been challenging Salih’s regime for several years, and (as Dahlgren and Weir describe) these have escalated into increasingly violent conflicts which seriously threaten the stability and unity of this fragile state – far more than the presence in Yemen of `al-Qa`idah in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)’. Since early this year Salih has additionally suffered from Yemen’s version of the Arab Spring - in his case physically as well as politically. An explosion in his palace compound in June severely injured him, and he has since been in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment. He recently appeared on TV repeating his intention to return to Yemen, where his sons and allies still hold key positions, but as I write (in early September) he is still abroad leaving Yemen in a limbo of uncertainty. Meanwhile major military, tribal and political figures have defected to the opposition. And mass demonstrations continue in the principal cities, despite attempts to crush them by imprisonments and military force. These protests, which demand Salih go, have gathered people from all parts of society, including businessmen, intellectuals, students, rural tribesmen and women.
During these turbulent events, the stereotypes of all women being secluded at home and politically inactive, and tribesmen being inherently conservative, disorderly and violent, have taken a well-deserved battering. Women have played active and vociferous roles in the Yemeni uprising, including as leaders and spokespeople. And tribesmen have left their guns behind, and marched and danced chanting verses of protest and longing - adapting (as Caton shows) an age old tradition to contemporary conditions. One can only hope that the intensely communicative Yemenis, with their penchant for using words creatively and persuasively, can resolve their differences, settle their grievances and decide their political future by discussion and popular agreement – and that further bloodshed can be avoided.
