Dr. Khaled Fattah, left, recently answered questions from ASEN intern Sonia Morland on behalf of SEN Journal. Dr. Fattah is a guest lecturer at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden. He holds a PhD in international relations from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He is often quoted in international media as an expert of Yemen and state-tribe relations in the Arab world.
What would you say were the underlying and proximate causes of the current protests in Yemen?
Dr. Fattah: The roots of the popular uprising in Yemen are related to economic, political and security grievances. Yemen is the poorest Arab state, with the worst economic and human development indicators in the region. The country has one of the most explosive population growth rates, the highest youth unemployment rates, and it’s one of the most food- and water-insecure entities in the world. An estimated 43 percent of its rapidly growing population lives below the poverty line. Political grievances, on the other hand, include rampant corruption, exclusion, abuse of power and stagnation. This daunting set of economic and political problems is compounded by serious security crises. During the last decade, the map of Yemen became dotted with pockets of violence and civil unrest in the eastern, northern and southern parts of the country. Each of these pockets created its own orbit of conflicts, public distrust and deep social grievances.